A New Year's Wedding
by gjficfan
Summary: On their wedding day, Emmett and Bella reflect on their lives with a little help from their family and friends. Companion story to "The Wednesday Dinner Thing." AH, AU, OOC. Non-canon pairings: B/Em, A/Ed, R/C, Es/J. Rated M for language and themes.
1. Chapter 1 Wedding, EmPOV

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight. **_**I'm just playing mix and match with her characters. **

**Beta Thanks:** As always, I owe my beta, ExquisiteEdward, an infinite amount of thanks. And that's not even enough. She be awesome.

* * *

**It's been so long that I thought I'd do a mini-character refresher:**

**Bella, 27**

(Renee, mother; Phil, stepdad), (Charlie, father; Sue, stepmom)

(Leah, 28, stepsister; Seth, 18, stepbrother)

(Jake, 29, Leah's boyfriend and friend of Bella and Emmett)

**Emmett, 29**

(Jane, mother; Waylon, Jane's fiancé),

(Steve, father; Vera, Steve's fiancée) (Todd, 24, Vera's son)

(Felix or "Fe", 29, Emmett's deceased twin brother; Heidi, 29, Felix's fiancée)

"**The Gang" Pairings**

(Alice, 27; Edward, 27), (Rose, 28; Carlisle, 32), (Esme, 32; Jasper, 28)

* * *

**The Wednesday Dinner Thing:**

**A New Year's Wedding, Chapter 1**

**EmPOV**

"Finally!" Carlisle yelled. He grinned from ear to ear as he pulled his gift out of the bag. Edward rolled his eyes at him and Jasper laughed as they did the same.

"Thanks, bro," Todd said, smiling widely at me. He sounded almost as jazzed as Carlisle.

"Guess we've got no excuse now," Jake said, shaking his head but smiling too. "Just gotta get some clubs now."

"Whew," I replied. "I'm glad you guys like them."

I'd been worried ever since Bella told me I had to get gifts for all the groomsmen. I didn't know what to get at first, and then it finally hit me: supplies for golf.

Carlisle had been _begging _us to golf with him at his country club. But none of us golfed besides him, and we weren't all that interested in golf anyway. Recently though, Jake and I decided that it might be in our best interests to go with him. What better way to network? We might get some real business leads at Carlisle's Richie Rich club.

I smirked as I watched them all now, pulling shit out of the gift baskets and talking all over each other. All my groomsmen were here: Jake, Edward, Carlisle, Jasper, Todd, and ... hmmm. No Seth. He'd just been here not long ago. His absence might have something to do with a certain blonde baby sister of Rose's. Those two thought they were slick at the New Year's party last night, but Rose and I saw them slip off a few times.

My Dad was here, and so was Carlisle's uncle, Caius; they were both around so much they were sort of honorary members of the gang now.

"These are actually good starter kits," Caius said to Carlisle as they carefully examined every item in the gift basket. They weren't actually baskets though: they were small coolers shaped liked golf bags filled with tees, golf balls, a rule book, gloves and a few other things too. I knew we'd have to get a lot more shit, like Jake said, but this would get us going.

"I can't wait to golf with these guys," Carlisle replied while flipping through the rule book. "I get tired of all those kiss asses at the club."

I chuckled as I watched Caius and Carlisle. The two were together quite a lot now since Carlisle wasn't traveling as much. Caius would probably always be arrogant and intimidating, but we were used to him now. Besides, Carlisle was his whole life and nobody could hate on him for that. Watching them made me turn to my own Dad who stood nearby, quietly going through his gift bag too.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "You didn't need to get me one."

"You said we'd take some lessons together," I replied. "You backing out on me now?"

"No, not at all," he said. His eyes watered as he looked at me, and he quickly turned back to the bag. He'd been like this all day, and I knew why. Neither one of us could have expected the relationship we had now; he probably figured he'd never be around to see me get married.

"I wanted to show you something," I said, carefully pulling the key chain out of my pocket. He gasped when he saw what I held out to him.

"You kept them? The trucks?" he asked, never taking his eyes off of the chain, or more specifically, what I had linked to the chain.

"No," I said. "I don't remember what happened to mine." He was standing so still as he stared at my hand, I thought he'd stopped breathing. He finally moved when he took it from me.

"Heidi gave me a box of Fe's stuff when she was here for the surprise party," I said. "The truck was in it. These two pieces had fallen off, but they were still in the box."

When Fe and I were about ten, my Dad - a logger when we'd been growing up - had given us matching toy logging trucks. They always reminded us of him when he wasn't around. I really didn't remember what had happened to mine, and I never expected Fe to have kept his. But when I'd opened the box from Heidi, I found it. The mini passenger door of the truck's cabin had fallen off, as had one of the toy logs; those were the two pieces I'd attached to the key chain.

"I don't know," I said, nervous when my Dad didn't say anything. "I just wanted some part of him here today."

And that did it. My Dad immediately collapsed into a chair nearby, his hand tightened around the toy pieces. I sat next to him and pulled him to me, tears running down my own damn face as we held onto each other. I could feel Dad shaking. He started mumbling and talking, still shaking. Fe might not have been perfect, but he was the only sibling I ever had, and I wished he could have been here today. I missed him. _We_ missed him.

"Mind if I talk to him?" Jasper asked. I nodded and got up, thankful he'd seen what happened. I promised myself I'd hold it together today. Jasper took my seat and started whispering to my Dad. If the rest of the guys noticed anything, they didn't act like it.

My Dad nodded at something Jasper said, and I smiled a little. I'd been talking with Jasper once a week like I'd promised Bell, and it did help. Jasper said he didn't want to be a counseling type of psychologist; he wanted to do research instead. But I thought Jasper would have made an excellent shrink. He kept my ass sane for sure.

I stepped outside of the room and took a deep breath. I'd have to remember to get the toy pieces back from my Dad; I really did want them with me today.

"I've got socks for cold feet if you need them." I looked up into the concerned face of Pastor Max.

"Nah, I'm good," I replied, wiping my face. "Just got a little emotional. Big day and all."

"You're a good man, Emmett," he replied. "And you're marrying a wonderful woman. You're both blessed with family and friends who love you. This is a good thing."

"I know, I..." I didn't get a chance to finish my thought because Edward's mom, Liz, came hurrying down the steps toward us carrying little Tia.

"Edward?" Liz asked, looking completely frazzled. Tia was crying and screaming at the top of her lungs; I'd never seen her so upset.

"He's in there," I said, pointing to the meeting room in the basement of the church where we'd been waiting. "You can go right in."

"I think it's getting a little late in the day for the youngsters," Pastor Max said with a smile. "I was just upstairs, and the ring bearer wasn't too happy either. And that reminds me. I was looking for Cindy." He scurried off in search of the wedding planner. I was kind of glad he left though; I just needed to get myself together a little. I quickly found a bathroom and went inside.

"This _is _a good thing," I said aloud to my reflection in the bathroom mirror. "Hold your shit together. For Bell."

After splashing some water on my face and adjusting the bowtie on my tux, I decided to poke around upstairs on the main level of the church. I couldn't go back into that waiting room. I knew my Dad was still all emotional, and I needed to stay upbeat. We still had about an hour to go before the wedding, and as long as I didn't go up to the second floor where the women were getting ready, I'd be okay.

* * *

"Damn this place is big," I mumbled to myself as I wandered around Faith Celebration. I knew Bell's church was popular in the area, but I'd only been in the main auditorium. I'd never explored like this before. As I approached a side door to check out the auditorium, I saw Chris, our four-year-old ring bearer, hauling ass towards me. I scooped him up before he could get past me.

"Where's the fire, little guy?"

"I not wear it!" he screamed, squirming and kicking the whole time. He'd apparently thrown his little tuxedo jacket on the floor because I watched his mother, one of Waylon's nieces, pick it up as she made her way towards me.

"I'm sorry, Emmett," she said, as I carefully handed him to her. "We'll have him settled down by the time the wedding starts."

"It's probably a little late for all the kids," I said. "Don't be too hard on him." Maybe we should have thought a little more about having an evening wedding.

"He's never been like this before," she said. He squirmed, whined, and tried to get out of her arms the whole time we walked down the hall.

"He might only be four, but he's still a guy," I said as she laughed. "And most of us hate these monkey suits. If I wasn't getting married, you wouldn't catch me in one of these."

"I don't care if you don't like it," she replied. "You look _great. _Bella's freaking lucky!"

"Hey, I'm standing right here," her husband said as we reached the lobby. I laughed with them for a bit until Ma hurried over to me.

"There you are!" she said. "I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing up here?"

"Just taking a break," I said. "What's wrong?" I walked back to the hallway so we'd have a little more privacy.

"Nothing," she said. "I just wanted to see you. Are you okay? Are you nervous?"

"I'm good," I replied. I really needed to get back downstairs; I'd wandered around for longer than I'd planned and guests were starting to arrive.

"You look beautiful, by the way." Ma never got overly dressed up, but today, she wore a dark pink dress with beads and stuff all over.

"Thank you," she said, actually smiling a little. "Alice has her hairdresser friends up there, and they did a great job."

"I heard." Alice asked her friend Ty to help do all the ladies' hair. I knew Ty; he owned the barbershop I used to go to. Demetri, a big-time stylist from what everybody told me, had trained both of them and had tagged along too. We heard that Rose and some of the other ladies had freaked out when they'd seen him.

"You holding up okay?" I asked. Ma didn't look anywhere near as broken up as my Dad, but she looked a little on edge.

"I'm fine," she said. "Don't worry about me. I just wish your brother could have been here to see..." Her lip quivered, and she couldn't finish. I pulled her into a hug, and she wrapped her arms around my waist tightly.

"Me too," I said.

"I know I've been tough on Bella over the years," she said, mumbling against my jacket, "but she does make you happy. I can see that."

"Thanks, Ma. I love her," I said. "And I love you too. This doesn't change that."

"I know," she said. "I love you too, Emmett. So much." She quickly pulled away from me and ran into a bathroom along the hall. And that got me choked up all over again. I walked around to the other side of the main auditorium. I didn't want to risk running into anyone else; I didn't want to risk completely breaking down.

A little more collected, I took a moment to look inside the large auditorium. The rain left patterns on the stained-glass windows which created an interesting effect with the lights. The flowers and fabrics on the altar and at the ends of the pews were all in our wedding colors of midnight blue and winter white. The decorations weren't overdone or fru fru; I liked them. It all seemed like us. Bell would love it.

_Bell._ I wondered how she felt right now. At her insistence, we hadn't talked or seen each other since the New Year's party last night. She even slept over at Esme's. I laughed to myself, thinking about how she'd even suggested not having sex all last week so we'd go at it like crazy on the honeymoon. Then _she_ caved that very same night she brought it up, not that I minded. God, I loved her. Last night had been hell without her in my bed. In _our _bed. I couldn't wait to see her.

"Big crowd," Vera said suddenly. She walked up and stood beside me.

"I can't believe all these people are here, just for us."

"Believe it," she said. "You're good kids and you have a ton of friends and family. Be thankful for that."

"I am," I said. "I really am."

When it was all said and done, our guest list totaled almost 200 people. Almost all the friends and family who'd come to Bell's surprise party returned for the wedding. I'd invited most everyone from Hike Washington; I'd worked there for so long that they felt like family. I missed them already, but I also knew that Jake and I could be really successful if we played our cards right. Bell had invited a bunch of people from her writing program and from the Initiative as well. Then, there were our actual family members and friends from Forks and La Push, in addition to our new extended family members from Vera and Waylon.

"They did great on the decorations, didn't they?" Vera asked.

"Yes, they did. It looks incredible."

"So why are you up here by yourself? Not getting cold feet are you?" she asked.

"No," I said. "Just got tired of sitting around down there. And Dad got a little worked up so I gave him some space."

"I just saw him; he's better now," she said before she grabbed me and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm so happy for you," she said. "Bella's a very lucky lady."

"I'm the lucky one," I replied. We stared at each other, and it was a few moments before I could speak.

"Vera, thank you... for saving him. I can't..." The tears started again, but I didn't care. If it weren't for Vera, my Dad would have self-destructed a_ long_ time ago. Of that, I was sure. She held me while I sobbed a lot harder than I did downstairs.

"You're welcome," she said. "You forgave him, and you didn't have to."

"I... love... him," I stammered as I clung to her. Shit, I didn't want to keep crying all day.

"He knows," she said. "And that's helped him more than anything I ever did for him." I pulled back a little, and she held my face in her hands.

"You're a good man, Emmett. You deserve to be happy. Don't ever forget that." She wiped away my tears, and I let her.

"You get back downstairs," she said when I'd calmed down a little. "That Cindy lady was looking for you and she means business."

"Thanks," I said, hating how mushy I sounded. "You look amazing by the way."

"I know," she replied, with a wink and a big grin that made me throw back my head and laugh. She patted my arm and walked away. Again I found my way to a bathroom where I collected myself. Thankfully, other than slightly red-rimmed eyes, I didn't completely look like I'd been crying like a baby for the last hour. I hurried towards the steps, but something caught my eye down another hallway right before I reached them.

"That's some hot and heavy action, kids," I said. "We_ are _in a church, you know."

I laughed when Seth and Irina, Rose's baby sister, broke apart. They'd been huddled in a dark corner, kissing sloppily. I could have left them alone and pretended like I hadn't seen them, but even on my wedding day, that just wasn't my style.

"Oh my god," Irina said, unable to look me in the eye as she tore past me down the hall. Unfazed, Seth smirked at me.

"You're such an as..."

"Ah ah ah. Watch that dirty filthy mouth. We're in church," I said, grinning the whole time.

"Whatever," he replied, grinning back. "You could have left us alone. We don't get to see each other much as it is."

"How long has this 'we' action been going on?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know, since the party," he said. "We keep in touch."

"Clearly," I said, causing him to laugh.

"Anything else you wanna know so you can run and tell my big-mouth sisters?"

"Who me?" I asked innocently as he laughed harder.

"I won't say anything," I said. "I'm happy for you. Your first girlfriend... _how cute_. But make sure you wipe that lip gloss off, loverboy."

He flipped me the bird, then wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Before I could tease him or lecture him further, we _both_ got busted.

"What are you _doing_ up here?" yelled Cindy, the wedding planner. "Downstairs. Both of you. Now! The photographer's been looking all over for you. "

"Okay, keep your hair on," I replied with a smirk. She didn't flinch. She was not kidding. We quickly moved past her and down the stairs.

* * *

Everyone was preoccupied when we re-entered the room, mostly on phones or talking, and they didn't seem to have missed us. Good. I didn't want any questions. Seth and I headed to the snack table to grab some food.

My Dad seemed back to himself, just with slightly red-rimmed eyes from crying. He was talking and laughing with Caius. They seemed a little too chatty. I didn't know how I felt about that.

"You okay?" Jasper whispered. I'd been watching my Dad and hadn't noticed Jasper walk up. He had a phone pressed to his ear.

"I'm good," I replied. He grinned at me but then rolled his eyes at whatever he was hearing on the phone.

"They're oil and water, and you keep tryin' to mix 'em," Jasper said into his phone as he walked away. He had to be talking to his middle brother, Liam. The rest of his family was here for the wedding, taking the opportunity to meet with Esme's family to continue the plans for their wedding while they were all in town and catch up with the other families from the gang they'd met at the surprise party.

Liam and his wife stayed back in Texas, not wanting to travel with the new baby. Apparently, Liam's wife and his ex had gotten into some nasty argument at a New Year's party last night; Jasper's family had been talking about it all day.

Next, I passed Todd, who was dealing with his own family drama.

"Who's gonna go get him?" Todd asked the person on the phone. "We're all here at the wedding. He was supposed to be here too."

Another incident, much closer to home, had Vera's family preoccupied. One of her many nephews, who'd been wasted both times I met him, got too drunk at a New Year's party last night. He'd been busted for drunk driving.

"You cool, bro?" Todd whispered to me, looking concerned.

"I'm good," I said again; he nodded and went back to talking. I kept walking, passing Carlisle next.

"You're fucking right you'll pay for it," he shouted into his phone. "That's not the problem. It can't be replaced." One of the contractors working on Carlisle's church-slash-office building had done some damage to one of the old windows. Caius and Carlisle had been on the phone most of the day taking turns abusing the guy.

When he saw me walking past, Carlisle raised an eyebrow, as if silently asking if I was okay. I nodded and he smiled before he went back to berating the poor contractor.

"I can't force her, but she's being ridiculous," Jake said, pacing as he talked into his phone as well. I shook my head. I didn't know who he was talking to, but I knew he must be talking about Leah and her refusal to marry him.

They'd been arguing about whether or not to get married pretty much the whole time Leah had been back home. She said that she wasn't going to get married just because she was pregnant, and she'd get married when she felt ready which wasn't now. The whole family, except for Bell of course, was on Jake's side, and honestly I was too. Because I knew how Jake felt; I'd been ready to get married to Bell for a long time before she was ready to marry me.

"You okay, man?" Jake whispered to me, like the others had. I smiled as I nodded my head and kept walking.

I sat in a chair in the calmest spot in the room, next to Edward. He held Tia who seemed perfectly fine now. When I got closer, I realized that she and Edward were singing together.

"_Aawww Iiiiiii sheeeeee_," sang Tia. I could barely hear her because her voice was so soft.

"_In darkness, she is aaaall Iiiii need_," sang Edward right along with her.

She smiled at Edward, and he smiled at her, as they sat in their own little world. Hopefully, one day that would be me with a little girl of my own. I watched them for a bit until they finished.

"It's my wedding day," I said. "_Must _you show off, singing all over the place?" He laughed, and Tia smiled too as she laid her head on his shoulder and peeked up at me.

"What song is that?" I asked.

"_Sunday Morning_, Maroon Five," he said.

"Is that her favorite or something?" I asked, chuckling.

"No," he said. "Well, maybe. It's actually Taz's favorite song. But Tee hears it so much she knows it too. I sing it to her at night sometimes; I thought it might calm her down."

"She seems fine now," I said. The three-year-old little girl was still smiling and humming quietly.

"I think she got upset when she couldn't see me or Taz," he said.

"Chris was cranky too," I said, wondering if they ever got that tuxedo jacket on him. "Maybe it's a little late in the day for the kids."

"Sorry everybody's so distracted," Edward said. "We're supposed to be keeping you calm, and making sure you're okay."

"I'm kind of glad," I said honestly. "Thinking about all this other stuff is keeping me from going nuts." A sharp knock on the door caused us all to look up.

"Everybody decent?" Tiny asked, peeking her head in the door.

"C'mon in," I replied. She entered, followed by Ty and an older guy in a flashy suit.

"Everyone, this is Demetri Volterra and Tyler Crowley, my partners in crime. We're here to make sure you look presentable." Everyone laughed.

"Caius! And Carlisle!" Demetri said excitedly. They clearly knew him, and they talked with him before they introduced him around the room. Tiny came over, a juice box and a baggie of Goldfish crackers in hand. She sat down next to Edward.

"I'm glad you're back," she said to me. "Cindy was going nuts looking for you."

"Cindy_ is_ nuts," I said as Edward and I laughed. Tiny had already turned her attention to Tia.

"Hi, baby! Are you okay now?" Tia reached out to Alice who happily pulled her into her arms.

"What a good mommy," I said with a big grin as Alice beamed back at me.

"Thanks," she said. "I think it's just too much excitement for her."

"You look great," I said.

"Thanks," she replied, never looking up from Tia who was already munching on Goldfish and drinking juice.

I hadn't seen the bridesmaids' dresses before now. Alice wore a midnight blue dress with no sleeves; the material looked sort of thick. It was kind of tight fitting from her chest all the way down to her ankles. Over that dress was basically a second dress made entirely of lace in the same dark blue, tied at the waist with a ribbon. The lace dress on top had long sleeves.

"Wait 'til you see Bella," Tiny added with a grin.

"Finally, I get to meet Emmett," Demetri said loudly, making his way over to me with Ty. "I've heard so much about you." I shook his hand when he offered it, not at all wanting to know what he'd heard about me.

"Alice, you've done a great job on his hair." Demetri talked rapidly about me... and my hair... to Alice, and I never got to say a word in reply to him at all.

I suspected that Demetri's attendance at my wedding had more to do with our wedding guests than either me or Bell. Caius and Carlisle were very important people to know, and because he was so close to Alice, Demetri had to know that Esme and her rich connected family would be here too. I'd also found out that it was a _huge_ deal around town that we were having the reception at the WTA, the theatre where Edward used to work. So Demetri's presence was making a lot more sense now.

"Hey, Emmett," Tyler said. "Congratulations."

"Thanks. Good to see you, Ty." He nodded, narrowed his eyes at Edward, and walked away.

Demetri left too, making a beeline for Jasper and his long curly blond hair. Jasper looked like he wanted to punch him.

"I better go save Jasper," Tiny said as Edward and I laughed. She walked over to him, carrying Tia with her.

"Wow," I said to Edward. "I thought Tiny was hyper. Damn."

"Yeah, hyper is the perfect word for Demetri," he replied as we both laughed. Tiny managed to drag Demetri away from Jasper, and they soon left the room. Ty followed them, after giving Edward one final glare on his way out the door.

"What was that look with Ty?" I asked. "He's usually pretty friendly."

"He fucking hates me," Edward said with a smirk. I raised my eyebrow; I was sure my confusion showed on my face.

"He's always had a thing for Taz. I don't think she realizes how bad. The other day, she told me that he thinks Tia's really mine and that I've tricked her into raising my own child. Like I'd ever cheat on Taz. She said he was joking, but I know he wasn't. He meant that shit." I hadn't realized that the rest of the guys had crowded around until they all started laughing.

"I have to admit, I thought the same thing at first," Caius said. "She really does look _just _like you. With a tan." We all laughed again; there was no doubt that Edward and Tia were related. But she was his cousin, not his child.

"She_ is _perfect, just like me," Edward said as we all cracked up again, "but I'm not her father. Well, not her biological father anyway."

"Maury Povich could clear all this right up," Todd said, causing us to laugh even harder, including Edward. The others kept talking and laughing and my Dad sat down beside me.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I said. "What about you?"

"I'm good. Sorry about before," he said. "Knowing your brother kept that truck really got to me." He handed me the keychain back, and I slipped it into my pocket. Thankfully, we were interrupted before we got all worked up again.

"Emmett, let me get a few candids," said the photographer. "Cindy said they're running a little behind schedule, so I have time for a few more." He told me where to stand and got a few shots around the room, and took a few of me with my Dad and the groomsmen too.

When we got all that done, I noticed my Dad and Caius talking again. This time, they were really in deep conversation. Curiosity got the best of me, and I pretended to occupy myself by getting more snacks from the tray as I listened in.

"...projects around the house," my Dad was saying. "It was in pretty bad shape. I'm a handy guy, so it's nothing I can't handle."

"Once you get settled in, let me know if you're looking for work," Caius said. "I've got a few businesses. I can always find something for a no-nonsense guy like you."

_Um, what the fuck?_ No, I did_ not _want my father working for Caius. I didn't even care if they saw me listening as I stepped closer; I had to hear the rest.

"Thanks," my Dad said. "But once we get the big stuff done to the house, I'm gonna take a little time for myself. I've been working my whole life. I'm taking a little break._ If_ I can get a break, what with all the wedding plans."

"When_ is_ the wedding?" Caius asked. It was kind of bothering me that Caius had taken an interest in my Dad. Caius was a good guy to know, but I liked to keep my distance from him.

"Not 'til June," Dad said, chuckling. "All her sisters have convinced her that this needs to be the wedding of the century. I thought we'd take the kids as witnesses and go down to the justice of the peace. But I was mistaken."

"You should have known better," Caius said, laughing and shaking his head. "There's not a woman alive, no matter what she says, who'd pass up a chance at a big wedding."

"Whatever she wants, I'm good with," Dad said, smiling. "Vera saved my life, in more ways than one. She can have whatever she wants."

"What about you?" he asked Caius. "You seem pretty tied down yourself with Sara." That was true. The only person Caius was with more than Carlisle was Sara, Esme's mom.

"I never thought I'd say it, but I am," Caius said, unable to stop grinning. "But I'm never getting married."

"She okay with that?" Dad asked. I wondered the same thing; I thought they might be next down the aisle, after my Ma and Waylon and my Dad and Vera.

"She's the one who said it first," Caius replied as they both laughed. "Bad situation with her ex. Can't say I blame her."

"Are they divorced?" Dad asked.

"Oh yeah," Caius said. "Have been for years. But he did a real number on her. Rich spoiled fucking prick."

"Some might say she has a type then," my Dad said with a smirk as Caius guffawed.

"Hey, I was never spoiled," Caius replied as they laughed again. "And I had to earn my riches."

"Whether you get married or not, it's nice to have a good woman in your life. Especially at our age," my Dad said.

"I'm finding that to be very true," Caius said. "Hey, I wanted to ask you about coming to my regular poker night. You're good. Really good. I've got a few people I'd like to see you beat."

I was very thankful that everybody else was distracted because I was totally and blatantly eavesdropping and couldn't pull myself away from their conversation. Why the fuck had Caius taken this sudden interest in my Dad?

"Can't do a regular thing," he said. "Vera wouldn't like that too much. But I could definitely come once in a while."

"Great. Do you golf?" Caius asked.

"No," my Dad replied. "Me and Em are gonna take some lessons. I'm looking forward to that."

"You'll have to come to my club then," Caius said. "Best greens in the area."

"Am I _suitable _for your club?" my Dad asked, smirking.

"Anybody Carlisle and I bring is suitable," Caius replied as they both laughed. Who would have thunk it? Caius Cullen seemed to be in the market for... a friend. Crazy.

"Okay guys, it's time," Cindy announced, barging into the room. "Leave your cell phones here, or turn them _off. _And I mean off, not on vibrate. Follow me." We quickly jumped to attention and did as instructed. Surprisingly, I felt calm, not nervous at all.

"You ready?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, I am."

* * *

We filed upstairs where we parted ways with Seth, Dad, and Caius.

"Congrats, Emmett," Caius said. "Good luck."

"Thanks," I replied.

"Seth and Steve, you go with Dina," Cindy said. They each gave me a clap on the shoulder before they followed Cindy's assistant. My Dad would be walking with Vera down the aisle. Seth would be walking his mom, Sue, down the aisle because Charlie - obviously - would be walking with Bell.

"These blue tuxes are kinda nice," Jasper said, checking himself out. The dark midnight blue really did look classy.

"I know," I replied. "Too bad we can't use them again at your wedding. But they won't go with _vermillion_." We all cracked up laughing at that. Jasper just rolled his eyes. He was already sick to death of the planning for his wedding to Esme, even though he had absolutely no control over any aspect of it.

"Through here," Cindy commanded. She pointed to a door to a small room that led to the front of the church. She lined us up in order: me, then Jake who was the best man, Edward, Jasper, Carlisle, and Todd.

"When the music starts, walk in," Cindy said before she ran off.

"Why are you nervous?" I asked Carlisle who suddenly looked a little pale. "You've done this already."

"There were about five people at my wedding," he said, looking past us out to the crowd. "This is a little different. I'm okay though. Just didn't realize there were so many people."

"Don't you swindle people, I mean, sell to people for a living?" Edward asked. Carlisle smirked and gave him the finger as we all cracked up.

"Not two hundred at a time, no," Carlisle replied with a smirk, though he did look much calmer now.

"You good?" Jake asked.

"I'm great," I said.

"I'm glad," Todd said, "cuz this shit is stressful."

"I think we better get in there 'fore Cindy comes back," Jasper said with a grin. The music, some classical piece, had started without me even realizing it. I nodded, took a deep breath, and walked into the church to our designated spots.

A murmur went through the crowd when we took our places at the front of the church. For the first time all day, I _did _get a little nervous. That is until somebody whistled in the crowd at the sight of us, which caused everyone to laugh. I wasn't vain at all, but even I had to admit that all us guys cleaned up pretty good. The church seemed a helluva lot bigger from this angle, in front of everyone.

"Take a deep breath," Jake whispered to me as he patted me on my back. I did, and I also made a point of not catching anyone's eye in the crowd. Depending on who I might see, I was liable to start bawling again, and I didn't want Bella to see a big blubbering mess at the end of the aisle.

"Showtime," Jake whispered when the wedding march started. I shut my eyes and took a few breaths to stay calm.

I was so ready for this, so far and beyond ready to spend my life with the woman who knew me better than anyone else in the world. And the real miracle was that she wanted me too. There had been so many times in life when I'd felt less than, second fiddle, and unsure of myself, but in this moment, when I opened my eyes and looked to my Bell, I knew that I was good enough for her. We were good together, and she helped me see that.

Even at a distance, I could see that she looked more beautiful than any woman I'd ever seen. She saw me too; I could feel it. I didn't notice my parents walking down the aisle, or pay attention when the flower girl and ring bearer followed, doing something that was making everyone laugh. All I could see was Bella. And she was here, in front of all our family and friends, in this beautiful church, to make it official that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me.

Before I knew it, she was standing right in front of me. Jake nudged me a little, and I stepped forward to take her hand from Charlie. He was trying his damnedest not to cry. Dazed, I stood like an idiot, staring down at her, barely able to move. I had _never_ seen a more perfect woman in my life.

Every inch of her body but her face and hands was covered by her long lace dress, and yet she was sexier in that moment than I could ever remember. The dress fit her like a second skin, then flared out at the very bottom around her ankles. Her veil held her hair off of her perfect face. She wore makeup, but not too much, and it only enhanced her beauty. Some of the lights from the church were reflected in her big brown eyes as she looked up at me. I felt like I was in some other place or time, under a magic spell or something.

And then, like she always did, she brought me back to reality.

"Put your eyes back in your face, dipshit," she muttered with a roll of her eyes. "It's time to get married." I laughed, _way_ too loudly, and so did she.

No doubt about it, I was marrying the perfect woman for me.

* * *

**A/N:**

1. Hello! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Real life and all that...

2. Hope no one was overly offended by all the cursing in the church. This was the guys' chapter, and they weren't interested in filtering themselves all that much lol.

3. Tia and Edward singing as they wait for the wedding to start is the scene that would NOT leave me alone or get out of my head. That, more than anything else, prompted me to write the wedding.

4. The opinions of Caius Cullen are his and his alone ;0p

5. Next chapter, we'll hear from Bella.

**Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2 Wedding, BPOV

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight. **_**I'm just playing mix and match with her characters and throwing them a wedding. **

**Beta Thanks: Many thanks to my beta, ExquisiteEdward. She keeps me sane, and that is no small feat. Thank you for editing and for everything else too!**

* * *

**The Wednesday Dinner Thing: **

**A New Year's Wedding, Chapter 2**

**Sunday, January 1, 2012**

**BPOV**

To calm my nerves, I watched the raindrops trickle down the window of the church's small library. The cozy room currently served as my temporary hiding place from the chaos raging outside of the door. Pastor Max graciously allowed us to use the top floor of Faith Celebration to prepare for the day; we'd taken over several of the administrative offices and meeting rooms as well.

With less than an hour to go until I would join the ranks of married women everywhere, I grew more anxious by the second. The rain actually comforted me. My past year with Em hadn't been filled with sunshine and happiness, yet we'd survived the rockiest time of our six-year relationship, stronger than ever and committed to a life together.

I loved Em with every cell in my body, but I couldn't rid myself of the niggling feeling that marriage would somehow ruin our amazing relationship. We worked so hard... on _us_, especially since Fe died. I didn't want either of us to tire of the other; I didn't want us to lose the spark that kept our relationship lively.

"I can always tell when you're riddled with self-doubt," Renée said. "Your energy feels completely off."

"I didn't hear you come in," I replied, startled by her sudden appearance.

"I know you didn't," my lovable but kooky mother replied. "You're so much like your father it's ridiculous. The both of you obsess and overanalyze. You don't notice anything else going on around you." She pulled me into a hug which I reciprocated with much more fervor than I'd intended.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Renée stepped back and grasped me by the shoulders.

"I just hope getting married is the right thing to do," I said. "You and dad were friends once. So were Steve and Jane. Look what happened to all of you."

"Yes, look at us," she said. "We're all either married again, or about to be. You and Emmett are much older than we all were when we married. We were just too young, that's all. You two know yourselves so much better than we did."

"You really think so?" I asked, hating that I felt so unsure. But my scattered emotions kept me on edge.

"I know so," she said matter-of-factly. "You glow when you're together. I've been watching. You're right together. I'd have said something before now if I didn't think so."

"Thanks, Mom," I said as I threw myself into her arms again.

"You're welcome, silly girl," she said, rubbing my back. Leave it to Renée to be the voice of reason on the biggest day of my life. Go figure.

"Thank goodness they didn't do your makeup yet," she said as she tenderly wiped my face. "That Demetri guy would have a fit if he saw you crying."

After I'd been buttoned into my dress, Demetri, Tyler, and Alice spent quite a bit of time examining me in it, pulling my hair and twisting it around, and deciding what they would do with my hair and makeup. However, they hadn't actually done either yet because I was being "saved for last."

"He's a little much," I said with a chuckle.

"That's an understatement," she said as she rolled her eyes. "He can't help it though. He's desperate for acceptance. His aura..."

"Okay, that's enough about him," I said, interrupting her analysis of Alice's mentor. "Did you need me for something?"

"I just wanted to check on you," she said. "And I come bearing gifts." She reached into the pocket of her far-too-summery-for-January dress and pulled out what appeared to be two metal charms attached to separate pieces of woven cord.

"I don't know if..."

"I _know_ these don't go with your fancy dress," she said disgustedly. "You're beautiful, don't get me wrong, I just wish your dress was a little less... traditional."

"Would you really have wanted me in some modern style?" I asked. I smirked because I already knew her answer.

"No, of course not," she said. "And at least it's original. Phil's niece got married in a dress that was fit for a strip club." We both laughed but I could not have been more thrilled with my gown.

Despite my request, Cory didn't make an exact replica of the dress I'd loved from the exhibit. She created a gown that borrowed from the 1910 design but fit my personality. The lining or undergown as I called it, consisted of a long simple slip with thin straps made from a thick cotton-like, off-white fabric.

Over that, I wore a lace dress woven from heavy cord, not the thin doily-like lace normally seen in wedding dresses. I absolutely loved the intricate weave and pattern of the lace which covered my entire body, from the slight ruffles at the top of my neck and ends of my wrists to the flare of fabric at the bottom that wasn't quite long enough to be considered a train.

The gown Cory designed for me fit perfectly, highlighting a shape I didn't know I possessed.

"You really are gorgeous," Renee said, stepping back to look me over again. "Anyway, I thought maybe you could wear these chakra bracelets. You could put them around your ankles so nobody has a fit about it."

I took the bracelets from her and closely examined the charms. "Thank you," I said on the verge of tears. "What do they mean?"

"This is the heart chakra," she said, pointing to one, "it represents love. The other is the sacral chakra. It represents sex, among other things. I thought you might need that energy in particular, you know, for tonight."

"Mom!" I said, blushing.

"Oh, hush," she said, completely unperturbed. "Don't act all bashful. Wedding night sex is pretty fantastic. That's certainly been my experience. Lift your dress a little. I'll tie these on."

I raised my dress a little as ordered so she could tie the bracelets-slash-anklets on, thankful for an end to the sex talk. I actually couldn't wait until tonight when the wedding was over and Em and I would share our first night as husband and wife. Still, I didn't want to talk to my _mother _about it.

"I love you, Mom," I said, grabbing her for one last hug when she turned to leave. "Thank you. I feel much better."

"I love you too," she said. "Just calm down and stop overthinking. It's okay to be happy. Sometimes I think you forget that."

* * *

For at least the third time in the last half hour, I heard the unmistakable sounds of running in the hallway. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why anyone needed to be running around on my wedding day, but I dared not poke my head outside of the library to find out the cause. Clearly, once I'd been buttoned into my dress, everyone conspired to keep me in here, calm and away from the fray. And I couldn't find the words to express my gratitude to the person who made that decision.

"I mean it, Charlie Swan. NOW!" The fierce voice of my stepmom, Sue, sounded loud and clear right outside the door. She rarely raised her voice; I wondered what my Dad had done to make her so angry.

"What's going on?" I asked. Sue stood in the hallway pacing the floor. She looked furious, but when she heard me, she tried to hitch a smile onto her face.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Everything's fine. Don't worry about a thing. That gown is so perfect on you, honey. You look..."

We both looked up as Leah ran past us, hand clasped over her mouth, on her way to a bathroom.

"Not _again,_" Sue mumbled as she shook her head. "I'm right behind you, Lee." She turned on her heel and followed.

My little nephew, still in the womb, was giving my sister hell. Lately, Leah spent most of her time in whatever bathroom she happened to be near, puking or peeing. I truly felt bad for her, especially since Rose didn't seem to be having any of the same issues. I wanted to help Lee but I knew they'd all chew me out and tell me to go back to my hidey hole in the library, so I turned to do so.

However, I couldn't help but notice Cindy and Whitney at the other end of the hall, huddled together talking and gesturing rapidly. I'd worked with Whitney at the Initiative before I resigned, and she introduced me to her cousin, Cindy, the wedding planner.

"What's going on?" I asked when I reached them.

"Nothing," Whitney said, looking alarmed when she saw me. "Nothing for you to..."

"Just tell me," I snapped. "What's wrong?"

Cindy crossed her arms in defiance, refusing to speak. Whitney wrung her hands together and looked between us, the stress plain on her face.

"Okay, Bella, don't get upset, but..."

I clutched my stomach to keep it from falling to the floor. My reaction only caused her to look more upset as Cindy groaned. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to find one of my bridesmaids, Claire, whom I'd also worked with at the Initiative.

"Like I said, don't get upset," Whitney repeated cautiously. "But... Aro's here."

"What!" I shrieked as all three of them flinched at my reaction. Of the many disasters I'd imagined, Aro showing up at my wedding was not one I'd expected. Aro Volturi, my former boss and general pain in the ass, crashed my wedding. _Holy shit. _

"Bella, I'm so sorry," Claire said. "Everybody still misses you at work, and we've been talking about the wedding a lot. I guess word got back to him."

"He's been hanging around so much more lately since we've been getting so much good press," Whitney added.

"I'll bet," I replied with a roll of my eyes. Aro started the Initiative in the first place as a means to improve his public image. And thanks to my efforts, and all the hard work of Claire, Whitney, and others, the museum finally garnered wonderful reviews and accolades locally and nationally.

I pulled my thoughts back to the people right in front of me and instantly regretted my reaction. Whitney looked near tears, Cindy appeared enraged by such a disruption to her carefully crafted schedule, and Claire seemed to have stopped breathing as she watched me.

"Look, it's nobody's fault," I said calmly. "Seriously. I'm sorry I snapped. I was just shocked, especially since Aro and I aren't exactly on good terms like we used to be."

"If you want him to leave..." said Cindy.

"Oh, no!" I said, alarmed. "The last thing I want is a big scene, and that's exactly what'll happen if Em or Charlie thinks there's a problem. And Aro wouldn't forget something like that and it'll just be more trouble down the line. He can stay. It's not that big a deal." I took a deep breath to collect myself.

"You're sure?" Cindy asked. "Because it's your day."

"It's fine," I said. "Trust me, Cindy. You do _not_ want to get on Aro's bad side." Claire and Whitney nodded their heads in agreement. Cindy just stared at me, but nodded. I knew she was annoyed by the change to her schedule more than anything.

"Do you know how many people he brought with him?" I asked Whitney.

"Three," she said. "His usual team." I nodded. We knew him well. Aro always traveled with at least three people: first, his personal assistant, then, whatever woman he was currently dating, and finally, a security guard.

"Who just shows up to a wedding like that?" Cindy asked with a scowl.

"Aro," Claire and I said together as we laughed. Aro could be a total jackass when he wanted, but I knew he'd be on his best behavior with so many "important" people at the wedding. Hell, they're probably the reason he came. Esme's family - the Platts - were all in attendance, including her grandfather, the former senator. Her grandparents' local friends, who'd also come to my surprise party, were also coming to the wedding. Em told me that Caius said they were "big wigs" too.

We extended an invitation to everyone who'd come to my surprise party because so many friendships were made that weekend. So really, I shouldn't have been surprised in the least by the appearance of Aro. Especially when I'd actually worked for him.

"I'm sure I'll hear from Aro directly at the reception," I said, shaking my head. If I knew him, he had to have been pissed to find out about my wedding from someone else.

"If he knows what's good for him, he won't say anything to you at the reception," Claire said. "Not with Emmett around."

"The reception," Whitney gasped. "Is there room for him?"

We all looked at Cindy. The church could hold many more people, so he could definitely stay for the wedding. Space at the reception was a different story altogether.

Cindy pinched the bridge of her nose, shook her head, and sighed.

"We can make room," she replied. "It's just a huge fucking inconvenience."

"Aro's middle name is inconvenience," Whitney said.

"Do what you can, Cindy," I said. "He might be an ass, but Aro was good to me, for the most part. It's only because of him that I met all of you. I can't turn him away." She nodded, and turned to leave.

"Cindy," Claire yelled. "You know he'll want to sit with the senator, and all of Esme's family."

"And with Caius," Whitney added.

"And you should probably try to put that Demetri guy with all of them too, if you can," I said. Cindy looked like she was about to explode.

"Sure," she said acidly, "no fucking problem. AT. ALL." She stormed down the hall, causing the three of us to snort and laugh after we saw her go down the stairs.

"She's a _little _dramatic," I said to Whitney. "Just a little."

"I grew up with her," she replied. "You haven't seen her be dramatic."

"This little wedding is turning into a big deal," Claire said with a smirk. "You've got the Platts, the Cullens, now Aro, _and_ freaking Demetri Volterra. I'm kind of not worthy."

"Oh yeah, you know me," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "I was determined to make the society page." We talked and laughed a little more until we were interrupted by Rose.

"Have... you... seen Nettie?" she asked yawning between words.

Rose's niece, Nettie, was our flower girl. Em and I simply didn't know many kids at all, and we felt lucky that Nettie's parents, and Chris's, agreed to let them participate. We would have asked Alice and Edward if Tia could do it, but she wasn't here when we'd started the planning and she was so shy and reticent that I wasn't sure she would have handled the crowd anyway.

"Not in the last fifteen minutes or so," I replied. "Wasn't she with you?"

"Yeah, but I dozed off, and hell if I know where she went."

"We'll ask around," Claire said before she walked off with Whitney.

"I'm sure she's not by herself," I said. Rose looked like she was about to fall asleep where she stood.

"I think you should come with me to the library. There's a great couch in there and you can rest."

"Thanks," she said. "I'm exhausted."

Once inside the room, she wasted no time settling onto the couch, tucking her legs under her and resting her head against the back of it. She took great care not to mess up her hair, which had been precisely swept up, twisted, and pinned within an inch of its life.

"Are they finally finished with everyone's hair?" I asked.

"Yeah. Ty even did Jane's. Looks great," Rose said. "You have no idea how lucky you are to get Demetri and Ty."

"Oh, I know," I replied. "I _had _to have the hottest stylists available for my wedding."

"No need to get sarcastic," she said, yawning again as she laughed. "You look amazing in that dress. It's beautiful."

"Thanks, I almost don't feel like myself."

"Emmett's gonna shit himself when he sees you. He..." She couldn't finish for yawning again.

"Have you slept at all today?"

Rose and Carlisle threw a pretty amazing New Year's Eve party last night. However, the party, coupled with most of her family being in town for the wedding, had clearly prevented Rose from getting any sleep.

"A few hours around lunchtime," she replied as her eyes drooped. "Too much going on. The party, my family, the wedding, CC. Too much."

"What happened to Carlisle?" I asked.

"Yesterday, one of the contractors working on the church renovation smashed a window. And it's some kind of rare glass that's hard to replace."

"Oh no!"

"CC and Caius were down there this morning, and they saw it. The guy didn't even tell them; he was gonna try and replace it before they noticed."

"Caius knows too? Damn. I feel sorry for that dude." That contractor might want to consider entering a witness relocation program. Crossing Carlisle was a bad idea; crossing Caius could be considered dangerous to one's health.

"Don't feel sorry for that fucker," she said, sounding more alert than she had in the last few minutes. "He should have never tried to get over on us in the first place."

"_Us_," I said with a chuckle. "I guess you're really a true blue, cold-blooded Cullen now, huh?"

"And don't forget it, bitch," she said as we both laughed. Well, I laughed and she yawned again.

"Has your mom been driving you crazy?"

Rose shook her head, yawned one final time, and drifted off to sleep.

I started to grow a little sleepy myself watching Rose. To stay awake, I paced the floor of the small room trying to maintain my composure. So much had transpired in the last hour that I hadn't had much time to fret, but now...

I didn't have long to work myself up into a frenzy because after knocking lightly on the door, Esme entered the library.

"Have you seen Alice?" she asked. She laughed a little when she saw Rose sound asleep on the couch.

"She went to check on Tia," I said. "That was about twenty minutes ago though."

"Oh," she whispered as she sat near me. "That dress is so beautiful on you. The lace really makes it."

"Thanks," I replied, blushing. "I love the bridesmaids' dresses too."

"They're surprisingly sexy," Esme said in agreement. "And very elegant."

The style of the bridesmaids' dresses fit well with my dress, although the midnight blue lace wasn't quite as thick and intricate as the lace on my dress. Additionally, their dresses featured a lower neckline than mine with no ruffles at the neck or wrist, and theirs were tied with satin ribbons around the waist while mine did not. Rose and Leah's dresses tied under their breasts to accommodate their stomachs.

Cory, ever the professional, even made two dresses for Leah when I couldn't decide which I liked better. As maid of honor, I initially wanted Leah to stand out. She would wear a silver dress, while the others wore midnight blue. But at the first fitting, I found that Leah didn't seem to belong with the others in that dress. In the end, Cory just made her a second dress the same color as everyone else's. Leah assured me that she didn't care either way; everyone knew she was maid of honor and that's all that mattered to her.

"You look so calm," Esme whispered.

"I'm glad you think so because I don't feel that way at all," I said, matching my tone to hers so we didn't wake Rose.

"I'm glad Em wanted to do this sooner rather than later," I added. "I don't think I could have taken one more meeting about seating arrangements or one more fitting."

"You're preaching to the choir right now," Esme said, laughing.

"I'm sorry," I said as I chuckled too. "That wasn't very sensitive of me, was it?"

"It's fine," she said. "In my case, I'm glad for the time. Jasper and I had a whirlwind romance, and the time is really giving me a chance to learn more about him."

"You're not having doubts are you?" I asked. Esme and Jasper seemed so great together; they balanced each other out very well.

"Not at all," she said. "But as sure as Emmett was about you two getting married quickly, I'm sure that Jasper and I need this time. For our families too."

"How's that going?" I asked. "They've all been here most of the week. Any casualties yet?"

"No," she said, laughing. "It's going a little better than I'd expected actually."

"What about your mom?"

"I'm pretty proud of Mother," Esme said. "I'm glad she's here. She's handling the negotiations with Jasper's family really well. Better than I could have." I shook my head and laughed.

"The plans for your wedding shouldn't be referred to as negotiations." It was her turn to laugh at me.

"Bella, you've met my family, and Jasper's," she said with a knowing grin. "With all those opinions and strong personalities, _everything _is a negotiation. I have to be honest, I'm a little afraid of Sharon, so I don't like to disagree much. But Mother doesn't care. She wants me to have what I want and she's the only person who stands up to her."

Now that we were several months removed from my surprise party where all our families had met, we'd learned a little more about everyone through conversations with each other and with our families. And one very clear fact had emerged. We'd sort of misjudged Jasper's mom, Sharon. She loved her family fiercely, and overall, seemed like a good person. But she was also bossy, domineering, and headstrong. In short, she was running roughshod over the meek and timid Esme.

Because the fight with Esme's and Jasper's families had turned so nasty so quickly, we'd all just sort of mentally said _Esme's family bad_,_ Jasper's family good_. But in the months that followed, Sharon had been steamrolling most of Esme's ideas and plans for Esme and Jasper's wedding. Esme whined to us, and Alice, Rose, and I all felt bad for her, but we also kept telling her to stand up to Sharon. Really though, we were wasting our breath because Esme just didn't seem to have that stand-up-for-yourself gene.

"Esme Platt, one of these days, you have to put your foot down with her," I said. "Jasper's a total mama's boy. He does whatever she says."

"But she's so bossy," Esme said as if pleading with me to see her side. "By the time I've come up with something to say, she's on to the next thing."

I rolled my eyes and she laughed.

"I learned pretty quickly that I had to stand up to Jane or she'd walk all over me," I said. "Not saying Sharon's as bad as Jane, or even close, but it's your life Esme, you _have_ to take a stand at some point or it'll be like this forever."

"Bella, it's your wedding day," she said, deflecting like she always did. "We're here to talk about you, not me."

I never got a chance to chastise her because we were interrupted by a little voice from the hallway.

"AUNTIE ROOOOLLLYYYYY," yelled Nettie, clearly roaming the halls looking for Rose.

"It's official. _Everyone _in Rose's family is loud," Esme said as she jumped up presumably to quiet Nettie. "I'll keep an eye on her if Rose asks. We don't have much longer now anyway."

She might as well have dumped a bucket of ice water over my head. The reminder that the big moment was near had me wrapping my arms around myself as I shivered in fear. A sharp rap on the door almost made me lose control of my bladder.

"No more hiding," Alice said. "Demetri's ready for you now."

"You better be glad you're holding Tia," I said as I grudgingly followed her. "Or you'd be getting cussed out right now."

"Whatever," she said, laughing in my face. "Save that dirty mouth for your man tonight."

I wanted to give her some smart-ass reply; Alice was taking too much delight in having me forcibly dolled up for a whole day. But then I looked at Tia, watching me with those gorgeous green eyes, and I forgot all about getting back at Alice.

"I love your pretty dress, Tee," I said. She wore a dress made of a gray fabric with a metallic sheen to it. The skirt portion was long and poofy and there was a sash around the middle tied in a bow on her side. Her long sandy brown hair, pushed back with a headband that matched her dress, hung in curls.

"I like _you_ pitty dess," she replied softly. Alice and I grinned at each other; it was a _huge _deal for Tia to talk to anybody besides Edward.

"Thank you," I said as we got closer to the raucous room where Demetri, Ty, and the rest of the bridal party talked and laughed. "And thank you, Alice. I had no idea you were getting Demetri to do our hair."

"I'm surprised too," she said, chuckling. "I asked Ty for two of his stylists, but I should have known. Demetri knows Caius and I'm sure he heard that the senator was coming. And I've been talking about it too. This was too much for a gossip like him to stay away from."

With a deep breath to collect myself, I hitched up my "pitty dess" and followed Alice and Tia inside the room.

* * *

"Thank goodness we hadn't started the makeup," Demetri said. He sat next to me, clearly amused while I cried my eyes out.

"Bella, calm down, we're already running late," Sue said as Cindy glared at me from beside her.

"So... beautiful..." I cried, unable to say anything else.

"I'm glad to see it put to good use," Gran said as she kissed my wet face.

She'd just presented me with the "something old" and "borrowed" for my wedding: an antique hair clip that had belonged to_ her _grandmother. The heavy piece of slightly tarnished silver wasn't what brought me to tears; knowing that Gran had saved this especially for me for all these years tore my guts apart.

"There's a wonderful man downstairs waiting to marry you," she said. "Calm down so you can go and meet him at that altar." I nodded and tried not to look at the others around the room, even though I noticed my Mom, Sue, and Leah all dabbing their eyes too.

"I don't mean to ruin the moment, but we really need to get going," Cindy said. "We're already..."

"You'll just have to wait," Alice said sharply. "She can't go down like this. We need at least another half an hour. It's a wedding. How often do they start on time anyway?"

In that moment, I freaking loved Alice Masen because no way was I ready to go _anywhere._ All the stress of the day had poured out of me when Gran gave me the hair clip.

"I just need a little more time," I sniffed, looking at Cindy. She glared at Alice who crossed her arms and glared right back.

"Fine," Cindy said reluctantly, "but I need everybody downstairs by 5:30 at the very latest." She left the room and slammed the door, leaving us to get ready.

"She'll never last in this business if she can't handle the pressure," Demetri said. That comment caused a whole discussion of the wedding planners he and Ty had encountered.

"You know, you're a tiny little thing," Sue said to Alice, "but you're fierce. I like it." Everyone chuckled.

"I understand her job is to keep things on schedule," Esme said, "but she's too abrasive."

"I mean really!" Alice replied, still looking annoyed. "Did she really think we would send you down like this? Besides, you've got more crying to do." She handed me a small velvet jewelry box.

"This is your something new... and blue, from Emmett." She smiled as all the others crowded around as I opened the box. The twinkling pair of diamond and sapphire earrings I found inside made me bawl all over again.

"I know... you... made him," I said to Alice and Esme, stammering between tears and hiccups. Alice and Esme grinned at each other.

"Actually Bella, we didn't," Esme said warmly. "He showed them to us after he bought them, to see if we thought they'd work well with your dress."

"And we told him he did a great job," Alice said.

"They're beautiful, baby," Renée said. "Let's see them on."

"But I didn't get him anything," I said, shaking my head.

"You agreed to marry him," Alice said. "That was the best gift you could have ever given him."

She put the earrings in my ears since I was too shaky to do it myself. I cried a few buckets more when I saw them on. Just like my engagement ring, the earrings were perfect for me. The part that fastened to my ear had a small sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds, and then a sapphire hung like a tear from that. I rarely wore jewelry but it was the sentiment that made me so emotional.

"Okay, Bella," Tori said kindly, but with authority. "You can cry all you want down at the altar, but you need to get down there first. Let's get this show on the road, girl."

Like her aunt Vera, Tori was a tough cookie. Even in her bridesmaid dress, she was not one to be trifled with.

"Yes, ma'am," I said seriously as I gave my version of a military salute to her as everyone fell out laughing.

Surprisingly, we didn't need very much time to get ready. Demetri left my hair long and sleek with a slight curl at the ends. He pinned my veil in, and used the antique hair clip to hold my hair back. I had already decided that I wasn't doing the lifting of the veil. I was clumsy enough as it was; I didn't need a hazy layer of material in my face to potentially cause me to fall.

"Perfection," Demetri said when he stepped back to take a final look at me.

"Thank you," I whispered, barely able to speak as I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair and makeup were simple and elegant in conjunction with my dress. I didn't recognize the woman staring back at me.

"Okay, we do need to get a move on," Alice said as she smiled at me.

"I'll go wake Rose," Esme said.

As everyone bustled around me, I sat back in awe. I braced myself to go downstairs on this most important day of my life. My family and friends loved and supported me, and I'd managed - in spite of myself at times - to hold on to the most incredible man I'd ever met. And he stood downstairs somewhere in this cavernous building, waiting to marry me too. What did I have to cry about?

* * *

"Bells, you're a knockout," Charlie said. "You're beautiful."

We'd finally made our way down to the lobby of the church and the others were discreetly letting me have a moment with Charlie.

"Thanks, Dad. Don't make me cry." He smiled down at me and kissed my cheek.

"Why's Sue so mad?" I asked. He frowned.

"I couldn't stand all the sitting around and waiting so me and Tony and some of the other guys went down the street to grab a beer."

I laughed and shook my head; that was _so _Charlie on so many levels. And apparently, Edward's dad and probably Jasper's too had aided and abetted him. I'm sure their wives let them have it just like Sue did.

"You were down there in your tux?" I asked, chuckling.

"Everybody asked what we were so dressed up for, and when we told 'em, they gave us free drinks, so..."

"As Seth would say, _It's all good_," I said and we laughed together.

"We were watching the end of the game and lost track of time. No big deal. I'm here."

Charlie had previously informed me that the wedding interfered with the last day of football games for the regular season. I reminded him that Em picked the date, not me.

"Are you forgiven?" I asked.

"You know Sue," he grumbled. "I mean, so my tux got a little wet in the rain. It's dry now."

"She'll get over it... next week," I said, snorting with laughter. When Sue got mad, she stayed that way for a_ long_ time.

"I love you, honey," he said more seriously. "I'm always here for you; don't ever forget it."

"I know, Dad," I replied. "I'm a lucky girl."

He quickly looked away from me and pretended to wipe his nose with a tissue I was pretty sure Sue had given him. Smirking, I grabbed him by the hand and led us toward the others.

* * *

"Look at all my parents, old and new," I said as both sets of my parents and Em's smiled and laughed at my sing-song voice, even Em's mom, Jane.

"I do like your dress," she said with an approving nod. I hadn't expected to get even that slight a reaction from Jane.

"You look beautiful," Waylon said, patting me on the back as he went to stand beside her.

"Bella," Em's dad, Steve, said as he pulled me into a hug. "Wow."

"What he means is, you're stunning," Vera said as she hugged me too.

"If this is the result, you need to glam it up more often," Phil said as he kissed my cheek. I wished that I could see him more often, but he and Renée traveled so much that it just wasn't possible.

Just as I started to tell them all that my feelings should be hurt by the big deal they were making over my appearance, Cindy walked up to the group.

"Okay, people listen up," she barked. "I need..."

"Groom's mother and stepfather." Jane and Waylon proudly walked to the head of the line, right in front of the doors to the church.

"Groom's father and stepmother." Steve and Vera stood behind Jane and Waylon.

"Bride's stepmother and stepbrother." Sue and Seth stepped forward and lined up next.

"Bride's mother and stepfather." Renée and Phil took their places as well.

Having all our parents walk down the aisle had caused great debate. Em and I both had divorced parents who had already remarried or would be remarrying soon. Additionally, all of our parents worked hard at improving their relationships for the sake of the family, Em's parents in particular. When Cindy tried to tell us that all of these parents shouldn't be walking down the aisle, Em put his foot down. We wanted all our parents to walk down the aisle and that was the end of it.

Nettie and Chris, both entirely too cute as flower girl and ring bearer, lined up next, followed by the bridesmaids in order by height: Tori, then Rose, Esme, Claire, Alice, and Leah, who'd stand beside me as maid of honor.

"Finally," Cindy muttered when we were all arranged. Just as she pulled out her phone to contact her assistant to start the music, a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, what happened to all the flower bouquets?" I asked. Looking around, I noticed that the bridesmaids didn't have theirs either.

"Fuckity fuck fuck fuck," Cindy said, throwing her hands in the air, before she tore off down the hallway.

"Oooh, her said bad word," Chris, the ring bearer, said before giggling, sending everyone into a fit of laughter. Well, almost everyone.

"The mouth on that woman," Jane said, looking furious. "No respect at all for the church!" Waylon didn't look so amused either. This caused more stifled laughter as everyone chatted about how we could have forgotten the flowers.

"You're the last person I'd expect to remember fru fru sh... stuff like flowers," Seth said, turning around in line to smirk at me.

"After all the times I got dragged to the florist, we _better_ use them," I said, causing more laughter around the lobby. The flowers had been discussed so much that I'd been to the point of making everybody carry a fucking book down the aisle I was so sick of it all.

"Doesn't Sethy look handsome?" Leah said loudly even though she was standing right in front of me. He narrowed his eyes at her as Sue and several others laughed.

"So handsome," I replied, just as loud. "All dapper and suave and sh... stuff." Everyone laughed again, except Seth who turned his glare to me, and Jane who threw me a dirty look for almost cursing.

"Enough, girls," Charlie said, after he stopped laughing. "Leave your brother alone." We all talked a little more while we waited for Cindy to return.

"Everything squared away with Aro?" I asked Claire.

"Yes. The crew at the reception is taking care of it."

"What's this about Aro?" Charlie asked. _Shit._ I forgot none of the guys knew about Aro.

"He kind of crashed the wedding," I replied with a grimace.

"The hell he did!" Charlie shouted. "He can't just..." He made for the door to the lobby of the church, as if he was going to walk right through it.

"It's fine, Dad," I said quickly, grabbing his arm. "Seriously, it's not a big deal. Maybe it didn't end well, but I worked with Aro for a long time. He was a big part of my life."

"You sure, Bella?" Steve asked, walking back to where I stood with Charlie. "It's your day. If you don't want him, we'll get him out. I don't care who he is." God, I loved Steve.

"Yeah, he can't just show up here like that," Phil said, looking angry too.

"Look, it's fine," I said. "I don't want a scene. It's not a big deal."

"Bella, these bracelets are great," Alice shouted over the surly men, as she held up her wrist so I could see the diamond bangle hanging from it. "Thanks again."

I could seriously have kissed her for distracting Charlie, Phil, and Steve who were still grumbling, among themselves now.

"They're beautiful," Esme said marveling at hers, as Rose smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

"I don't have anything like this," Claire said, holding hers up to the light.

"I love mine too," Tori added.

"Show off," Leah said as she looked at hers, smiling at me the whole time.

"No problem," I said. "I just wanted to thank each of you for all you've done. We wouldn't be standing here without you; I could never have planned a wedding in three months all by myself."

I'd been wracking my brain trying to figure out what to give the girls for their bridesmaids' gifts. I didn't know bridesmaids got gifts having never been one, but Cindy told me it was an absolute must. It occurred to me that while I was trying to put real deep thought into it, I didn't need to. My new friends loved fashion and jewelry. I decided on bracelets, in an older design that matched the style of my dress. The white gold, filigree and diamond bangle bracelets definitely fit the bill. Clearly, by all of their reactions, I'd made the right choice.

Cindy and her assistant returned with a huge box from the florist. The bouquets for us and boutonnieres for the guys were all inside. Guess the groomsmen would just have to do without. Cory, the dress designer returned with them, and she walked up to me.

"How does it feel, Bella?" Cory asked, fussing over the dress one last time.

"More comfortable than I expected," I replied. "It feels great."

"And how are your feet?" Rose asked with a smirk. She was back to her usual snarky self after her nap.

"Quite fine, thank you," I replied as she and Alice cracked up laughing. I'd wanted to wear flats, but everyone convinced me that I couldn't get away with it because Em was just so tall. I needed some sort of heel so I wouldn't look so short standing next to him in the pictures. Reluctantly, I agreed.

Still, I refused to wear the pointy skyscraping heels that Alice and Rose loved so much. Esme saved the day by finding a pair of wedge heels appropriate for the occasion. They weren't as comfy as my flats, but they weren't too bad either.

"Here's your bouquet, Bella," said Dina, Cindy's assistant. "Let me pin this on you, Charlie, then we're all set."

After one last perusal of my dress and veil, Cory left. Cindy opened the door to the church and the music started.

Although I was at the back of the group, I could still see much of the church. What I saw took my breath away. The darkening sky and flickering candles, the lush flower arrangements and luxurious fabrics, transformed my simple church into a dazzling private enclave for our family and friends. The scene before me overwhelmed my senses; I shut my eyes tightly to collect myself.

"You okay?" Charlie asked, squeezing my hand. I opened my eyes and nodded, still too overcome to speak.

A loud whistle from the crowd, announcing the appearance of the men at the front of the church, brought me out of my reverie.

I noticed Em, the most important person in my world, almost immediately. Our eyes were drawn together by some force far greater than I would ever know or understand.

I shook my head a little and smiled. If I knew Em, and I _did_, he was up there all lovestruck and moony. I'd have to fix that. I wanted to marry my jokey happy Em, and I would. As I continued to stare at him, the chatter of the others began to filter into my ears.

"Ladies, we have some mighty fine men," Rose said.

"Yes, we do," Esme replied as they all craned their necks to peek into the church.

"Carlisle looks like he's about to hurl," Alice said as she laughed.

"He's not so good with crowds," Rose said. "You'd be surprised. He's a little shy when he's out of his element."

"Speaking of hurling, you good, Lee?" I asked. She smiled and nodded.

"I think I'll be okay for the wedding," she said. "If not, I'll make sure I don't barf in your direction."

"I appreciate that," I said as we both laughed.

"Are you sure you're all right, honey?" Renée asked, getting out of line to come back to where I stood with Charlie.

"She's fine," he said irritably. "Don't go getting her all upset."

"I'm really okay, Mom," I said before she had a chance to snap at Charlie. "You better get back in line before Cindy sees you."

"You're so beautiful, baby," she said, completely ignoring my request. "So perfect." She grabbed and hugged me. Thankfully, Phil came and carefully pulled her away from me.

"Ready?" Charlie asked, for the first time ever looking a little nervous.

"Yeah, Dad. I am." We grinned at each other as I tucked my hand in the crook of his arm.

The procession started and the parents made it down the aisle with no problems, as did Chris, the ring bearer. And then, when Nettie followed, the handle on her flower basket broke. She stopped in the aisle, looked down at it, and uttered the line that brought the house down.

"_Fuckity fuck!"_

"I guess it's true what they say about little ears picking up everything," I said as I cracked up and shook my head. Charlie was laughing so hard his eyes were watery again.

I don't really remember the actual walk down the aisle because my eyes were locked with Em's the entire time. Like I'd suspected, when I reached him, he looked like he was in some sort of lovesick trance. Nope. I was_ not_ having that. Not today.

"_Put your eyes back in your face, dipshit," I whispered. "It's time to get married."_

He immediately let out a loud, inappropriate guffaw and I did the same. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jane frown and whisper to Waylon. Maybe our behavior was irreverent and inappropriate, but I didn't really care. This was who we were and why we were so perfectly suited for each other; this was the "us" I wanted our family to see, not these dressed-up, paper-doll versions.

"I fucking love you," Em whispered, grinning down at me still.

"I love you too, now shut it," I whispered in reply as we turned to face Pastor Max.

For all the time and angst that went into the wedding preparations, the actual ceremony didn't last very long at all. Before I knew it, we'd both said, "I Do", and I had another ring on my finger.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. Emmett, you may kiss your bride."

Emmett McCarty wouldn't be Emmett McCarty if he didn't make a major production of the kiss as our friends and families hooted and whistled around us.

"You think you can just grab me and kiss me like that, all in public, now that we're married?" I asked breathlessly when we came up for air. I couldn't stop smiling.

"I do, and I think I just did," he quipped with a huge grin on his face. My witty reply was stuck in my throat as I became distracted by his shining eyes. I had _never _seen him happier.

"So do it again," I replied as my _husband_ obliged.

* * *

**A/N: And so we have the rest of the wedding. Hope you enjoyed it! The reception will be next, and I hope to have it up soon.**

**As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3 Wedding Reception

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight. **_**I'm just playing mix and match with her characters. **

**Beta Thanks:**** Thank you, ExquisiteEdward, my incredible and fantastic beta for your work on this chappie! **

* * *

**The Wednesday Dinner Thing:**

**A New Year's Wedding, Chapter 3**

**EmPOV**

"Tell me that's not Aro," I said.

"You know anybody else with a Maybach limo?" Jake asked.

"Holy fuck!" Todd said as all the guys' tongues fell out over the Maybach as we watched from our limo. Aro and his entourage stood by his car talking outside of the church.

"It _is_ Aro," Bell said warily, "but it's not a big deal."

"Um yeah, it is a big deal, because he wasn't invited," I said, looking at her like she'd lost her mind. "You didn't want him here. So his ass needs to..."

"Please, Em," she begged. "Just let it go. I told Charlie and Phil the same thing."

"I can't believe you," I said. "After the way he..."

"It's her day," interrupted Leah. "If she says he can stay, he stays."

"Please, Em," Bell said again. "Yeah, it's fucked up for him to show up like that, but he was a big part of my life. I should have invited him anyway. I almost did."

"Don't you blame yourself for this!" I shouted. "You worked your ass off for him, and then..."

"Emmett McCarty," Rose said in a low, menacing voice, "if you don't let this shit go, I will take my shoe off and shove it straight up your ass. Calm the fuck down. Do NOT ruin Bella's day."

"And you better not look all pissed off in the pictures either, so fix your fucking face," Leah added, looking like she wanted to rip me to shreds with her bare hands. "My sister has turned her life upside down for you since your dumb-ass brother got himself killed. This is the_ least _you can do for her."

"Lee, that's enough," Bell said quietly as she took one of my hands in hers. I looked down at her and immediately regretted flying off the handle like I had. Maybe Leah didn't have to make that crack about my brother, but she was right. I owed Bell a perfect day, a perfect life, after all she'd done for me.

"Fine," I said as I leaned down and kissed her quickly on the lips. "I just don't want anybody messing up your perfect day."

"It's _our_ day," Bell said, finally smiling. "Just ignore Aro. For me."

When I looked up at the rest of the gang, Carlisle and Jake were clearly trying not to laugh at me. I'd gotten a double dose of the _outbursts_ they'd been dealing with from Leah and Rose. Finally, they couldn't hold it in anymore and their snickers led to all-out laughter in the whole wedding party, me and Bell included.

"You two got any other sisters?" Todd asked, looking back and forth between Leah and Rose. "I like a tough chick." Leah just rolled her eyes, but Rose answered him.

"I have two," she said. "My little sister's too young for you. And trust me, you couldn't handle my older sister. She'd break you in two."

Her words seemed to have the opposite effect on my hornball stepbrother. "Damn," Todd replied, looking hopeful. "She gonna be at the reception?"

We laughed until it was time to get out and take more pictures. With friends and family like these, it was hard to stay mad.

* * *

I paced the floor of the office as the guys talked to me, but I was too pissed off to listen.

The entire wedding party and all of the guests made it to the reception. The guys and I waited in a pretty swanky meeting room while the girls helped Bell change clothes down the hall. At the opposite end of the floor, in a huge lobby area, all our friends and family were drinking and socializing at the "cocktail hour" while they waited for the reception to start.

The whole time we took pictures, I behaved. I posed, smiled, and kissed on command. But when we got here and I saw that fucker Aro talking and laughing with people like he'd actually been invited, I got mad all over again.

_Who the fuck did he think he was showing up here like he did?_

And was it always gonna be like this? He'd just show up in Bell's life again whenever he felt like it, and she'd be okay with it?

"Emmett, calm down," Jasper said again.

"Why the fuck should I calm down?" I stood and shouted. "It's not okay for him to show up here like he did. I want him out! I'll do it myself." I stood and made for the door, but every last one of the groomsmen stood in my way.

"Did you see my sister on the way over here?" Seth asked angrily. "She was _crying._ On her wedding day. Yeah it sucks that he's here, but just let it go. For her."

"Think about what she wants," Carlisle said, "especially today."

"If she wanted him here, she would have invited him in the first place," I yelled defiantly. "But she didn't."

"Look, I know what you're going through right now," Edward said. "It's the same thing with Taz, Demetri, and Ty." I paused; I never thought about the fact that he might not like Demetri and Ty. And Tiny worked with those dudes all the time.

"Do you know how many times I've made special plans for me and Taz, only to have one of them call her and beg for help?" he asked bitterly. "Almost every time, she drops what she's doing and goes running. Do you know how many times I've wanted to beat the shit out of those two clowns?"

No, I hadn't thought about it because Edward was usually a pretty calm, collected guy. I couldn't imagine him wanting to fight anyone. But in this situation, I completely understood.

"I could have asked her to stop working with them, but then she'd say I was trying to control her," Edward said. "And now that she works for herself, it's gotten way better. Give Bella time. You have to let her figure out how she wants to handle him on _her_ terms."

I looked up at him and nodded. What he said made perfect sense whether I wanted to hear it or not.

"Aro wants Bella back in a big way," Carlisle said. "She's the only person he's ever trusted with his private collection. She's smart. She'll do the right thing, whatever that is. But if you tell her she can't, well, you know how that'll go."

"And she chose her life with you over workin' for him," Jasper said. "With an ego like his, that's gotta be eatin' him up."

"Why give him the satisfaction of knowing he got under your skin?" Todd asked.

"You heard Lee and Rose," Jake said. "The wedding day is for the woman. Bella wants him here, so just ignore him."

"Dad and Phil and all those guys are probably gonna handle him anyway," Seth said. "They acted just like you did when they found out he was here. Bella said leave him alone, but you know Dad."

I did know Charlie, and he was_ not _going to have his daughter upstaged on the best day of her life.

"Women remember their wedding day for the rest of their lives," Edward said. "Do you want Bella to remember a happy day with her friends and family, or some big fight with Aro?"

"Look what happened at the surprise party with me and Esme's families," Jasper said. "Even though we're getting along better, all everybody in my family talks about is how Esme's granny called us no-class hicks."

Thank God I had these guys in my life because they were dropping some realness on my ass right now.

"You know it fucking sucks with you assholes being so rational all the time" I said. They laughed, and I noticed they all looked relieved as well.

I looked at Seth. "I better go talk to Charlie."

"I think you better," he agreed. "He was pissed."

I couldn't have been more surprised when I opened the door and found Bell and the bridesmaids huddled together right outside of the door. They must have heard me shouting and come to listen in on our conversation.

"I'm sorry," I said to Bell. "You married an ass."

"I just want us to have a good day," she said, sniffing and wiping her eyes. "Just forget about Aro, _please_."

"I'm over it, okay?" I leaned down to kiss her and she wrapped her arms around my waist.

"What was that about Demetri and Ty?" Alice asked Edward with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"I just told the guys how much I love them, and how they're my best friends outside of the gang," he replied. We all fell out laughing as Tiny rolled her eyes and punched him on the arm before they hugged and kissed too.

"C'mon," I said to Bell. "You still need to switch dresses. I can help with that."

* * *

My gorgeous wife stood on a coffee table in the changing room so that I could more easily undo the tiny buttons on her dress. She was naked but for a pair of little panties. I wanted nothing more than to throw her down on the big table in front of the window and fuck her senseless.

"Em, anybody can look in here and see us through the window."

"Let them," I said. "Nobody told you not to wear a bra."

"Cory built a bra into the dressss," she said, finishing in a hiss as I stood behind her massaging her soft bare breasts and kissing my way down her back.

"Thank you, Cory," I mumbled against her skin. I undid the last tiny button and slowly peeled her dress away.

Despite Bell's fears, no one from outside would see us in the dark room; we were too high up and the closest buildings were too far away. We couldn't hear any of the noise from the gang in the hallway. And that meant they wouldn't hear us either.

I kicked my activities up a notch, kissing and licking all over the skin of her back, squeezing the hell out of her tits, and pinching her hard little nipples.

"Mmmmm," Bell moaned as she grabbed my hands and pressed them tighter against her breasts. "We need to stop."

Ignoring her, I slid one hand down and cupped her ass while I kissed and nipped at the back of her neck. Good thing she was wearing her hair long today. When she slapped my hand, I stopped.

"C'mon, babe," I whined.

She laughed and turned to face me. I pulled her closer to me and she ran her fingers through my hair. She stared at me with a wild look in her eye. I knew she was fighting with herself, but I had no idea why. I thought we could both use the stress relief.

When she attacked my mouth with her own, I knew she'd lost her inner battle. Our hands were everywhere as we lost control. Even with her standing on the table, she was only just taller than me. We were almost eye to eye as we kissed and sucked and groped. I was on the verge of having a problem in my pants when she yanked herself away from me.

"We really... need to... stop," she said as she panted and gasped for breath.

"Why?" I asked as I pulled her to me again.

"I don't have any other panties here for one thing," she said.

"So don't wear any," I said as I nuzzled my face into her neck.

"I'll be dancing with _a lot_ of men tonight," she said with a smirk. "You're really okay with me not having panties on?"

She knew me so damn well.

"You win," I said with one final kiss.

"And I don't want our first time as husband and wife to be in some office. I know you picked a great place for our honeymoon," she said. "I want the whole deal: flowers on the bed and making love in the moonlight while we listen to the waves outside."

"When'd you turn all mushy and romantic?" I asked. I was teasing her; Bell had always been much softer on the inside than she seemed on the outside.

"When I met you," she said.

"You_ are_ a very lucky woman," I said. She threw back her head and laughed as I lifted her off of the table.

"Thank you for my earrings," she said, reaching up to take them off. "They're beautiful."

"And you're taking them off because..."

"I'm not used to wearing them, and they hurt a little," she said as she rubbed her earlobes. I was shocked to see that they were red from the imprint of the clip.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't know they would hurt."

"It's fine," she said. "I love them, really. But I'm not used to them, so they're a little tight."

"I'm glad you liked them; you looked perfect today," I said as she grinned.

"I wore them long enough for them to be in all our pictures," she noted. "Plus, I'll be hugging people all night; I wouldn't want to lose one. I'll give them to Gran and get them back from her later."

"You know, it's harder to find those clip-on ones," I said, "but I thought I did a pretty good job picking them if I do say so."

"You did," she said, leaning up to kiss me. "I just wish you hadn't. I don't know when I'll wear them again."

"I was thinking maybe I'll take you somewhere really nice on our anniversary each year, somewhere fancy enough for you to wear them each time."

"And you call me the romantic," she said, her eyes shining with happiness. "It's a date," she whispered.

She kissed me again until_ I _had to pull away.

"Quit attacking me, woman," I said as she laughed. "There's like two hundred people waiting on our asses.

"Why are you changing anyway?" I asked as I helped her into the second dress.

She shrugged. "Alice and Esme said it's what most brides do. I guess it makes sense: I'll be hugging people all night, and there's too many chances for something to happen to my dress. Alice said somebody spilled wine on hers and got lipstick on the shoulder."

"I bet Tiny shit a brick about that," I said. Bell just laughed.

The second dress looked pretty much just like the bridesmaids' dresses to me, except in white. I thought it was even sexier than her wedding dress because it still showed off her hot body and now her neck was exposed too.

"I don't want anything to happen to my dress," she said. "I'd like to keep it for our daughter. Maybe she'll want to wear it." I smiled so hard my face hurt when she said_ our daughter. _She grinned back at me too.

"Hate to break it to you," I said, "but our little girl won't be using that dress."

She looked a little hurt, but shrugged again. "She doesn't have to, I just thought..."

"That's not what I mean," I said as I lifted her chin. "Our little girl won't be using any wedding dress because she's never getting married. She'll be a nun."

Bell laughed so hard she clutched her stomach. "So you're gonna be one of _those_ dads, huh?"

"You know it," I replied. She still laughed as she tied the little belt on her dress into a bow and slipped her shoes back on.

"What the hell is that on your ankle?" I asked.

"Chakra bracelets from my mom. For good energy. One's for sex." I rolled my eyes; only crazy ass Renée would give her daughter some shit like that.

Just as Bell put her hand on the door handle so we could leave, I grabbed her other hand and pulled her back a little.

"I love you, Bell," I said. "Thank you for marrying me." Her eyes seemed to melt as they looked into mine.

"I love you too," she whispered. "Thank you for asking."

* * *

"Where are the rest of the parents?" Cindy asked as she attempted to put us in order for the receiving line.

While Bell talked to Ma and Renée, I walked over to Cindy. "Look, give me a minute," I said. "I promise I'll find our dads and bring them back."

"Quickly," she replied. I had to walk through the ballroom to get to the lobby at the other end of the hall where I was sure I'd find all the dads at the cocktail hour. I hadn't planned on stopping, but I couldn't help it when I saw the ballroom.

Tiny and Edward made a good call picking the WTA for our reception. It was dark outside now, and the entire room on the top floor of the theatre was surrounded by floor to ceiling windows, so you could see the skyline all the way around. The whole room seemed all shimmery and sparkly and shit as the light from the candles and chandeliers reflected off of the windows. And all the flowers and stuff on the tables, in our midnight blue and winter white wedding colors, looked great too.

"Damn this looks _good_," I said to a guy who was putting finishing touches on one of the tables.

"Thank you," he replied with a broad smile. "We're almost done."

I was able to slip around the perimeter of the lobby unnoticed for the most part because the lighting was dim there too, plus people were drinking and talking. I had to speak quickly to a few people who tried to stop and talk, but finally I reached my Dad. He stood in a corner with Charlie and Phil, and Mark and Billy from back home, plus Edward and Jasper's dads and a few other guys.

If my Dad was voluntarily talking to Charlie, I had a bad feeling that I might be too late.

"Congrats," Dad said, pulling me in for a big hug and clapping me on the back.

"Thanks," I said with a big grin before I motioned for them to lean in closer to me.

"Here's the deal," I said. "Don't say shit to Aro. Bell's all upset about it and made me promise not to bother him."

There were way too many smirks and little laughs among them when I said that._ Oh shit. _

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Don't worry," Dad said. "We didn't throw him out."

"We just talked to him, that's all," Charlie said, looking way too pleased with himself.

"Just a few words about manners and respect," Billy, Jake's Dad, said, looking smug like the others.

"It's all handled, Em," Mark said. He was sort of like a godfather to Bell, having worked with Charlie for years on the Forks police force.

"All right," I said, even though I didn't believe them. "Just don't do or say shit else to him, okay? I don't want her upset."

"Of course not," Phil said, looking offended. "It's her day."

"We'll be good," Dad said with a wink.

"I said what I had to say," Charlie said. "I'm done." I looked around at the group of guys, laughed, and shook my head. They might be hotheads sometimes, just like me, but they loved us and I was glad to have them on our side and in our lives.

"I think you three are supposed to come with me anyway," I said to Dad, Charlie, and Phil. "Parents are in the receiving line too. We're lining up now."

"Shit you're right," Phil said, quickly downing the rest of his beer and setting the empty bottle on a nearby table; Charlie did the same. My Dad also finished the rest of his drink: a can of soda. I knew today would be hard on him because we were having an open bar, but I was so proud of him already.

We left Billy, Mark, and the other guys and walked back towards the rest of the wedding party. Almost as soon as I turned, I caught the eyes of none other than Aro himself, watching me like a goddamn hawk from across the room. He looked pissed as hell; I mean fucking furious.

I smiled at him, grinning wide enough to show all of my teeth. He gave me a very tight smile in return. _Oh yeah, he mad. _

* * *

We finally got lined up, in position, and settled down. As Cindy talked with her assistant, Rose's sister-in-law, Maggie, approached us. She was carrying a sad-faced Nettie.

"Everyone, Nettie has something to say," Maggie announced.

"Miss Bella, I sorry I say the bad words," Nettie mumbled as she played with the belt of her little flower girl dress.

"Thank you, Nettie," Bell said with a big smile as all the other women said _Awww_. "I accept your apology." She gave the little girl a hug and a kiss. "I know you didn't mean it. Sometimes grown-ups say words that aren't nice, but you didn't know."

"Okay, Net, come on," Maggie said. "Time for dinner." Nettie's face perked up immediately.

Maggie walked towards the room that was serving as the babysitting area; I'd passed it on my way to the lobby. Chris, the ring bearer, was already down there, and so were Tia and AJ, Nettie's baby brother. Edward's nieces weren't here this time, but a few other babies of some of the guests were. We'd used the same babysitters from the surprise party, and they'd brought a third person with them to help.

"Damn I can't believe I missed what Nettie said," I told Bell. "Shit sounded epic, like stuff you see on one of those funniest video shows."

"I'm sure it is on video," Bell said. "You were too love struck to see what happened."

"Still am," I said as I grabbed her and kissed her.

* * *

"I'll bring another plate," the waiter whispered to me.

"Thanks," I replied after he took away my empty one. Bell was eating steadily too; it had been a long day for all of us and we were starving. Thankfully, as soon as we'd made our grand entrance as husband and wife, we sat down and dinner service began.

"Glad they're bringing you more because you can't have any of mine," Bell said, taunting me.

"What's yours _is_ mine now," I said. I took my fork and snagged one of the potatoes off of her plate. She looked like she was about to stab me with her butter knife, but then I guess we were too close again because the crowd started with the damn clinking of the glasses.

"I had about enough of that the first ten times," Bell said.

"Tired of kissing me?" I asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Never," she replied kissing me again. We seemed to have appeased the crowd who went back to eating.

"I'm glad you're eating up," I whispered to her. "I don't want you passing out on me tonight."

"I'm so tired, I'll probably fall asleep right away," she said innocently, batting her eyelashes at me and making a point of licking her lips. Good thing the waiter returned with my second plate because I almost threw her down on the floor and took her right there.

"Okay everybody," said the deejay, "I hope you're enjoying dinner."

There were murmurs of agreement all around the room. We'd used the same caterers from the surprise party with only a slightly fancier menu.

"Now," the deejay continued, "the best man and the maid of honor want to say a few words about the happy couple."

Bell and I looked at each other and groaned.

"Hey everyone," Jake said standing up in front of the head table. He took the microphone from the deejay. "For those who don't know, I'm Jacob Black. I've known Emmett since we were kids back home."

I was starting to get nervous because instead of continuing to eat dinner, people seemed to be hanging on his every word.

"First off, on behalf of Emmett and Bella, I want to thank all of you for coming. If you're here, it's because you're like family to them."

Bell squeezed my hand and smiled.

"Before I get to my speech," Jake said, "there's something important that I want to do." He turned to look me at directly and I tensed up a little.

"I'd like to take a moment to remember someone who's no longer with us. Em's twin brother, Felix." I shut my eyes tight because I could almost feel everyone in the room watching me. Bell rubbed my back and kept squeezing my hand.

"I knew Fe, but not nearly as well as I know Em," Jake said. "It hurt Em bad to lose his brother. I know he'd give anything to have him here tonight."

I could feel the fucking tears sliding down my face. Having Fe here, even as selfish as he sometimes used to be, would have made today perfect. At the parents' table, Ma was wiping her face, and I could see my Dad wiping his eyes too.

"One thing about Fe though," Jake said with a grin as he turned back to look at me, "he'd want this to be a party."

I chuckled and nodded as I wiped my face; Fe would have already been wasted by now.

"So we're not gonna do a moment of silence or something sad like that," Jake said. "Instead, I want everybody to make sure they have an extra good time tonight. If you were gonna dance once, dance twice. If you were gonna have one drink, get another. For Fe."

I shakily raised my drink in toast to what Jake said as most of the guys around the room yelled out "For Fe" and raised their drinks too. Even Bell was choked up, and she hated Fe.

"When I thought about what to say for the speech, there were a lot of ways I could go. I mean with Em, the jokes almost write themselves," Jake said as everyone laughed.

"He's a giant, he's not as funny as he thinks he is, there's no way in hell he should be with somebody as hot and smart as Bella, and sometimes he forgets that deodorant is his friend." Everyone howled with laughter, me most of all.

"But then," Jake continued, "I remember that the reason he's not so funny sometimes is because he'll make a fool out of himself if it will put a smile on somebody else's face."

Bell grinned up at me, her eyes shining with tears again. What could I say? I liked for people to be happy.

"And if he smells a little sometimes," Jake said, "it's because he busts his ass to do a good job." I chuckled, not offended in the least. When you work outside, you don't always smell great.

"And Bella's lucky to have him because _nobody_ will ever take better care of her than he will."

"Amen to that," I said as Bell stared up at me. For the second time, I wiped away her tears.

Jake turned and looked straight at me.

"Emmett, you're my best friend in the world," he said. "Nobody deserves to be happy more than you. You're like the brother I never had. I love you." His voice broke on the last word.

Jake and I stared at each other in silent understanding; I felt the same exact fucking way about him.

"I would never try to replace your brother," he said, "but know that I'm always here. Whatever you need."

He gave the microphone to Leah and walked to me. I stood and we hugged.

"I love you, too," I whispered to Jake as we pulled ourselves apart. "And thank you for mentioning Fe. That shit means a lot." He nodded and Bell hugged him before he sat back down. I was thankful we had big cloth napkins at the table because I put one up to my face while I collected myself.

I was already sad that Heidi didn't feel up to coming to the wedding, so I was just glad that somebody took the time to remember Fe. My brother could be an ass sometimes, but I missed him like crazy and I wished like hell that he was still here.

"My baby daddy everyone," Leah said as she turned and grinned at Jake. "There really is a heart under all that muscle." Instantly, the mood in the room grew lighter as everyone cracked up laughing.

"I don't even want to think about what she'll say about me," Bell said, looking at her sister nervously.

"I'm Leah Clearwater. Bella's my sister," she said. "Growing up, I had a pretty great life. I loved my Mom and I basically worshipped my Dad." She smiled at some memory.

"I was spoiled, I'm not even gonna lie, and maybe a little bratty." A bunch of the people from Forks and La Push chuckled and laughed knowingly. Leah was most definitely more high maintenance than Bell.

"Even when my little brother came along, my Dad still made me feel special," she said. "I loved him so much." Sue let out a sob which caught Leah's attention. She stopped, and I noticed her lip quivering.

"And when he died, a part of me died too." Sue, Bell, and Leah were all crying now.

"It was rough on us for a while, really rough," Leah said through her tears. "And then my Mom started dating the freaking chief of police." People laughed and turned to Charlie who was busy holding up Sue.

"Charlie was the complete opposite of my Dad," Leah said. "My Dad always wanted to be out doing stuff; he loved being active. And Charlie," Leah paused as she looked over at her stepfather. "Charlie likes his TV." Bell and most of the people in the room cracked up laughing.

"But he was really great to me and my brother," Leah said, her voice shaky, "even when we weren't always so good to him."

Leah started to look wobbly, and Seth ran over and held her up. I hugged Bell to me as she cried. Charlie had his hand over his face; Sue was _really_ crying now.

"So we finally got used to Charlie and then we had to meet his daughter," Leah said, turning to Bell. She didn't look so shaky now, but Seth still held onto her waist.

"She didn't live near us at first, and she always seemed like this mythical creature or something the way he bragged about her. _She's so smart, she's so pretty, she's so nice_. Seth and I knew we'd hate her on sight." Again, everyone around the room laughed.

"And when we met her, I didn't see what was so great about her," Leah said, talking directly to Bell now, as tears poured out of both of their eyes. "She was this weak mousy little thing who'd jump out of her skin if you looked at her too hard."

Bell was sobbing so much she was shaking, and I handed her the same cloth I'd used a little while ago.

"But the more we got to know her, we realized that she wasn't weak. At all," Leah said, noisily sniffing before she wiped her face with the back of her hand. "My sister is the strongest person I know. She had a lot of responsibility, early in her life, and not many people could have handled it. I know I couldn't have."

All the moms at the parents' table, including Ma and Vera, were openly crying as was Bell.

"She was so used to taking care of herself," Leah continued. "It's always been hard for her to let people in. I worried that she'd never open up enough to have a real relationship."

Bella nodded her head against my chest as she cried and watched her sister.

"But somehow," Leah said, looking at me this time, "Emmett's giant ass got through to her. And she's so much happier now, even if she doesn't realize it."

"I am," Bell mumbled as she cried, "I do."

"Thank you, Emmett, for showing my sister how to live a little, and for not letting her push you away. All we ask is that you take care of her and love her like we do. She deserves it."

And that was it for Leah. Seth helped her back to her seat where she and Bell fell into each other's arms, loudly crying and talking over each other. There weren't many dry eyes left in the place after those speeches.

"When did you get so sentimental?" I asked Leah as I hugged her too.

"Fucking pregnancy hormones," she said, laughing through her tears. "I had jokes for days written out."

"Thank you for what you said," I told her. "You know she's safe with me."

"We know," she said.

I was barely back in my seat when Cindy approached.

"Do you want me to do the gifts?" she asked us. For the first time all day, she didn't have a major attitude. I guess all the emotion of the speeches got to her too.

"Please," Bell said. "There's just no way we can do it right now." I nodded in agreement.

We had special gifts for a few people who'd gone above and beyond to help make the wedding happen. We had one for Cindy too, but we'd give it to her later.

As Bell and I held each other as we watched Cindy give out the gifts, I thought about the fact that just about every person I gave a damn about was in this room right now. My Dad was back in my life, Ma was happier than I'd ever seen her, my friends were by my side, and my wife was in my arms. What a way to start the New Year.

* * *

**BPOV**

"This is like the most depressing song in the history of life," Em said. "I can't even make myself move this slow."

"First of all, no it isn't," I replied as we danced to _Flightless Bird, American Mouth_. "Second, if it's so depressing, then why are you smiling?"

"Because I'm fucking happy," he said. "We're finally married. I never thought I'd see the day. I feel like somebody should pinch me."

He absolutely didn't need to tell me any of that. The warmth of his eyes and the ease of his grin revealed his emotions for him.

"Believe it," I said. "No getting rid of me now."

"Wouldn't think of it," he said with a smirk. I couldn't quite stop grinning myself.

"You're low maintenance, you don't waste money, you're an awesome cook, and you're very talented in the sack - thanks to me, of course."

I cackled. "So romantic," I said, shaking my head but grinning all the while.

"You know it," he said as he leaned down to kiss me. Only when we heard the oohs and ahhs of our family and friends did we remember that we were standing in the middle of the room with all eyes on us.

"I thought this would be worse being the center of attention, but it's not so bad." As we moved slowly together during our first dance as husband and wife, I stared into my husband's vibrant blue eyes, very easily forgetting about the world outside of his arms.

"Thank the Lord," Em said when the song ended, clearly not as caught up in the serenity of the moment as me. No matter, I had a lifetime to stare into my husband's eyes.

"And now our bride will be joined by her father, and the groom by his mother," DJ Dan said.

"Smell ya later," Em said. I laughed, giving him the exact reaction that he wanted. He led Jane onto the dance floor while Charlie dragged himself over to me.

"Let's get this over with," he said. The music started and I stepped into my father's arms.

"Don't forget this isn't about us," I said. We both instantly looked over at Em and Jane. She smiled so wide and looked so happy as she danced with Em that she made my cheeks ache.

"Yeah, that was a good call," he said.

Charlie begged me not to make him do a father-daughter dance. I didn't want it either, but we both caved because of Jane. Em said he wanted to make sure she got some spotlight at the wedding because she'd been bristling a little that he'd been spending so much time with Steve. But he didn't want to do that dance if we weren't going to do ours, so we decided to bite the bullet and do a joint father-daughter mother-son dance with Jane and Charlie.

"Some speech your sister gave," Charlie said as we danced.

"She can be pretty deep when she's not being a selfish brat," I replied.

"I'm glad it all worked out with you kids, and that you have a good relationship with Sue. She loves you like her own."

"I know, and I love her too." He quickly looked away. I knew the emotions of the day, and all the beers, threatened to break him.

"This is a great song," I said to change the subject. I wasn't familiar with it, but I liked it and the words seemed appropriate for this sort of dance. We let the deejay select it and he'd chosen well.

"It is," Charlie said. "And it fits. You _are_ the sunshine of my life. Always have been."

I smiled goofily in reply at my nearly drunk father, as we danced in silence. When the beautiful song ended, Charlie practically ran back to his seat and Jane reluctantly let go of Em, dabbing at her eyes. Jane could most certainly be difficult, but I felt good that we did this for her.

* * *

"You better not smash..." I couldn't even get the words out before my fucking husband smashed the slice of cake we'd just sliced in my face. Then, the asshole rubbed it around, laughing the entire time. I even had frosting up my nose. I wiped some off of my cheek and flung it at his head, very satisfied when I heard it splat.

"There will be repercussions," I said. The room buzzed with laughter from our families who took pictures along with the photographers.

"I hope so," Em said, wriggling his eyebrows.

"Well at least come help me wipe it off," I said. People laughed as we passed the tables on our way out of the opulent ballroom.

"Pretty good aim, Mrs. M," said Em as we looked in the bathroom mirror. I'd managed to get cake on his cheek and in his hair.

"At least I'm not the only one who looks ridiculous."

"I'd say you look many things, but ridiculous is not one of them." He wriggled his eyebrows at me again and we laughed. We washed our hands and faces until they were cake-free. When Em leaned down to examine my face for any remaining cake, I stupidly thought he'd wipe my face.

"Ewww!" I screamed when instead of wiping my face, he actually licked some frosting I'd missed right off of my face.

"Fucking nasty ass," I said, though I couldn't stop laughing myself.

"Mmm, raspberry filling," he said, smacking his lips. "Yum."

"Touch me again before I finish cleaning up and you get a knee right in the nuts."

"Dirty talk, hubby like," he replied with a devilish grin. "That's why I married you." I lifted one knee in warning and he raised his hands in surrender. We finished cleaning up, laughing at each other the entire time.

"Shall we, beautiful?" he asked reaching for my hand after I checked the mirror one final time. I'd washed away any remaining makeup, and but for one damp spot in my hair, I looked fine. I was actually glad to be rid of all the makeup anyway, especially now that we'd finished taking pictures.

"Thank you, handsome." I said as he opened the door. Before I could step through it, he scooped me up into his arms.

"Do bathrooms count for the whole carrying me over thresholds deal?" I asked.

"Doesn't matter," he said. "You're mine now and I can carry you wherever I want. So don't get comfortable." He smacked me hard on my ass as I screamed a little on our way down the hall.

* * *

"We call swap," Rose said. She and Carlisle accosted us almost as soon as we arrived back inside the ballroom. She quickly pulled Em onto the dance floor while I followed Carlisle. He gracefully positioned me and started to move. I recognized this song as one of Em's requests, _Baby Hold On_.

"The deejay knows his audience," Carlisle said.

"We asked him to do a block of music from the sixties and seventies," I said. "Most of the people here are closer to our parents' age." And that was true; over half of the guests were our family or family of the gang, most of them between the ages of forty-five and sixty.

"There was a time when I thought this might be us someday," he said.

"I gave it a thought or two myself way back when we first met," I replied.

"I'm glad things turned out like they did," he said. "Rose is perfect for me, and Em for you." We watched as the two of them danced; Em being overly careful of Rose's protruding stomach.

I wholeheartedly agreed with Carlisle. "You need someone like Rose to knock you off that pedestal." He threw back his head and laughed.

"And you need someone like Emmett to keep your nose out of your books," he said as I laughed. "I mean it. Congratulations. Marriage looks good on you."

"Thank you. It's done wonders for you too. You're not nearly as pompous as you used to be." Carlisle could do nothing but nod in agreement.

"I don't know what my life was like before Rose," he said. "She's everything to me. It's a good feeling."

We danced through the rest of the song talking a little more, and stopping to watch Rose and Emmett who were doing more laughing than actual dancing.

When the song ended and another began, this one about dancing in the moonlight, I found that I had another suitor.

"May I have this dance?" Aro asked, ignoring Carlisle completely.

"I quite like this song," Carlisle said. "I'm not sure I'm ready to let Bella go." I appreciated him for stalling and giving me time to make a decision. But I knew this was coming and I needed to get it over with.

"It's fine," I said to Carlisle, squeezing his arm to reassure him. He gave a slight nod before he let me go. "I'll be right at the table if you need me," he said, giving Aro a pointed look.

If even the always well-mannered Carlisle was on edge, then I knew the rest of the men would be as well. I had to put on a happy face no matter how uncomfortable this conversation might turn out to be. One sign that I was upset and Em, Charlie, and the others would most definitely cause a scene. I absolutely didn't want that.

"Of course," I said as Carlisle walked away. I quickly noticed Em, Charlie, Phil and Steve all together, watching us and whispering, but they kept their distance.

Although the tempo of this song was a little slower than the song Carlisle and I danced to, I made sure to step further back from Aro. I didn't want to be any closer to him than necessary.

"You have so many protectors," he said as he tried to pull me closer to him.

"They're people who love me," I said. "Don't make it sound so threatening."

We stared at each other for several moments before he spoke again. I'd worked for Aro for eight years and I thought I knew him fairly well. But he seemed a little off, a little unhinged, and I couldn't lie: the look in his eye bothered me.

"Somehow, I never received an invitation to this lovely affair," he said finally.

"Let's not play games," I replied. "You know we're not on the best of terms. This wedding is for people who love and support me, not people who berated me for wanting to move on with my life."

"That's all in the past," he said quickly, though I saw his eyes flash furiously. "I hated to lose you and I was angry. I like my routine, and you upset it."

"I'm not a possession, Aro. As you can see, I have many friends and family. I like being able to spend time with them. Working for you was all-consuming. You know that."

"You're very special to me, Bella," he said. "So young, so gifted, so beautiful. You know my temper gets the best of me at times. There was no need for you to take it so personally." I snorted and chose not to respond to that comment.

"I was hurt that I had to hear about your wedding from other people. After all I've done for you, you owed me an invitation at the very least."

"I don't owe you shit, actually," I said, already losing control of my temper. "You gave me an incredible opportunity at a very young age, and I'll always be thankful for that. But I worked hard for you. Damn hard, and I sacrificed a lot in the process."

"And I made you far richer than you ever could have been if you'd toiled away as some teacher or professor," he said. "That's the career you would have had if I hadn't stepped in. My money probably paid for this whole wedding. I know your husband couldn't afford to give you the things that I..."

"You didn't pay for a goddamn thing here," I said nastily, stopping our ruse of a dance completely. "I earned every dollar I ever made working for you. No matter what you think, it was a salary, not a handout. I've done a lot for you Aro. Don't act like I didn't."

He looked thrilled that he got such a rise out of me. "I saw your talent and I gave you a rare opportunity to use it. And I paid you handsomely."

"I earned every dollar," I repeated to drive the message home. "And last time I checked, you were getting great press because of _my_ work at the Initiative. So don't act like I'm some fucking charity case."

"You're very right," he said. "The Initiative is sorting itself out. I don't need you there anymore. Maybe I was a little hasty in not hearing you out."

"It's too late, Aro," I said.

"I must say, the ceremony was beautiful," he said, changing the subject. "The reception too. They don't let just anyone have events here. Did you know that?"

My hands involuntarily balled into fists as I glared at him, too upset to speak.

"Because of me, you have a certain lifestyle," he said smugly. "Because of me, you were able to buy that condo, live in your neighborhood, and meet the people who helped you have this reception. This is all down to me, and the least I deserved was an invitation."

"Well you didn't get one," I said. "And it's only because of _me _that you haven't been thrown out on your ass yet."

"I could still use help with my catalog," Aro said, switching his demeanor completely by attempting to sound kind. "You're the only person I can trust with it. You never betrayed me."

"Good luck finding someone," I spat. He laughed darkly, took me by the arm, and attempted to pull me back to him as if we were still dancing.

"Yeah, I'm cutting in," Em said abruptly as he put his arm around my waist and firmly tugged me to him. His blue eyes looked ice cold as he stared down Aro with a ferocious look on his face. An absolutely livid Aro glared up at Em who towered over him.

"It was good to see you, Aro. Hope you had a good time," Em said dismissively. "But it's time for you to leave." And with that, he swiftly turned me away from my former employer and moved us through the gathering crowd.

"Did he hurt you?" Em asked with barely controlled rage in his eyes.

"No," I whispered. He'd led me to a hallway on the far side of the ballroom, away from most of the foot traffic. I didn't want to let him see how much Aro's words had affected me, so I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my head against his chest.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you sooner," he said. "But I knew you wanted to talk to him, and I didn't think he'd be crazy enough to start some shit with a line of people waiting to kick his ass."

I laughed a little and wiped my face. Em had been right all along. I knew Aro could be a total ass, but I _never _thought he'd show up at my wedding to, in his mind, put me in my place. That was a new low, even for him. To have him say all that shit to my face, on my wedding day, _hurt. _

"When I said get the fuck out, I meant NOW, not when you feel like it!" Charlie bellowed, causing Em and I both to snap our heads up and watch the scene unfolding at the other end of the hallway.

Aro hastily pulled on his coat and stormed down the hall, followed by the people who'd come with him. I saw Phil and Steve, Billy and Mark, Jake and Seth, Carlisle and Caius, Edward and Jasper - and basically most of the other dads and uncles who'd come to the wedding - assembled at the end of the hall backing Charlie up and making sure Aro left.

"So much for not making a scene," I said, crying in earnest now as Em held me tightly and let me.

"Babe, that guy had it coming from the moment he showed up," he said. "And nobody beat his ass, which is what he deserved. So he got a little embarrassed. Who gives a shit? At least all his fucked-up hair plugs are still in place."

"You always know what to say to make me feel better," I said as I laughed.

"I do," he said smugly. "So are you ready to go back in or what? The asshole's gone and there's a lot of people waiting to dance with our fine asses."

"I love you," I said, ignoring his question.

"I know," he replied. He wiped my face and kissed me tenderly on the tip of my nose. The love I felt for this man knew no bounds.

"Yes, I'm ready," I said after a few moments. He took my hand and led me back inside where the party - the party for us - was in full swing.

* * *

"You should have seen your man storming out there to save you," Leah said giddily.

"It was like a scene straight out of a romance novel," Esme said with a silly grin.

"I gotta say, I was proud of Emmett," Rose said. "Aro must have lost his fucking mind grabbing you like that."

"You have made Demetri's life tonight," Alice said. "He'll be gossiping about this for weeks."

"Great," I said as they all laughed. "I wouldn't have let him stay for the reception if I'd known he was just looking for gossip."

After a few dances and the highly entertaining tussle that resulted from the throwing of my bouquet, I'd slipped away with the girls to a small meeting room down the hall.

"I just feel so stupid," I said. "I never thought Aro would act like that."

"_He _should feel stupid," Esme said. "He completely embarrassed himself. My family is appalled."

"Really?" I asked.

"When you have wealth like my family and like Aro," Esme said, "there are just some things you don't do in certain settings. His behavior was disgraceful."

Rose nodded in agreement before she spoke. "Caius was disgusted too. Aro totally lost control with you, and Caius is all about maintaining control, or at least the appearance of it."

"I guess we have to accept that sometimes, our big hot-headed guys actually know what they're talking about," Leah said. "Especially when it comes to other hot-headed guys."

"True," Alice said. "But we can't let them know that. _Ever._"

We laughed and joked for several more minutes until we returned to the ballroom. I felt so much better after talking to them. It was clear that no matter how hard he'd tried, Aro Volturi had not ruined my day. My friends and family wouldn't allow it.

* * *

So I learned pretty quickly that when you're the bride at a wedding, there's no escape. You're the star, everyone wants a piece of you. If I didn't talk to every single guest, then I'd only missed a few. And I felt like I'd danced with all the men in the building. While it was all great fun, there was only so much my feet could take.

"I'm done," I said to Em as I collapsed at a table in a dark corner of the room and quickly took my shoes off. "My feet are throbbing."

"I can help with that," Em said suggestively as he attempted to lift my leg onto his lap.

"Hell fucking no," I said as he cracked up laughing. I promptly put my foot back on the floor. Em rubbing my feet_ always_ led to sex, and since we had at least an hour to go before we could leave the reception, there was no point in teasing each other.

That was exactly why I refused to do the garter thing as well. My husband anywhere near my feet and legs would lead to inappropriate behavior. We still had Em throw a garter to the single guys, he just didn't get it from off of my leg.

"I haven't been to many weddings," Em said, "but this one was pretty awesome."

"I think so too," I said as I leaned over and kissed him.

"Really is one helluva party," Jasper said, suddenly appearing next to us. Esme, champagne glass in hand, sat down on his lap.

"I'm starting to think there's a party everywhere you go, Jasper," I said. We all laughed.

"And slow down on all the shots and rounds and toasts, Doc," Em said. "I'd like to be awake tonight, not passed out drunk."

"This ain't nothin'," Jasper said, his accent more pronounced as it always was when he spent time with his family. "We're bein' good. Mama said we better not embarrass her." Esme raised her eyebrow at me and I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"You can't duck out on the country songs, gal. Get on up." Jasper's Dad grabbed Esme by the hand and led her back to the dance floor where most of the rest of the Texas crowd were already assembled. DJ Dan had started the country block of songs we requested, not only for Jasper's family, but for mine as well. Charlie, Phil, and quite a few others were big country music fans too.

"You make her so happy," I said to Jasper as we watched Esme trying to keep up with her soon-to-be father-in-law on the dance floor.

"It's a two-way street, darlin'," he replied, never taking his eyes off of his fiancée.

"Did they just say ride a cowboy?" I asked as Jasper and Em laughed at me, never answering my question. I was certainly hearing some interesting music tonight.

* * *

"Why are you over here by yourself?" Sue asked. I was still at my spot at the table, Em having just left to dance with one of Vera's sisters.

"Em only just left," I said. "I can't move. My feet are done."

"Do you see your sister out there?" she asked. "She's gonna have the baby right there on the dance floor, shaking her butt like that." She frowned as she watched Leah.

"You know what she's like when Justin comes on," I said.

"True," Sue said as we laughed.

Leah was going crazy on the dance floor with Jake. Not only had the deejay played Leah's favorite Justin Timberlake song, _Señorita_, he also played _SexyBack_, and _4 Minutes_, Justin's song with Madonna. Rose had Carlisle out there too; poor guy was doing his best to keep up with her. I was highly amused.

"You can't be too mad at her," I said. "Not after that speech she gave."

"No," Sue said warmly, "not at all."

"Where's Dad?" I asked. I hadn't seen him since the hallway incident.

"Probably somewhere with all the rest of the guys," she said, looking a little excited. "There's a lot of testosterone in the air tonight."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I should have listened in the first place."

"That guy had it coming," she said. "Besides, riled-up Charlie means a fun night for me, if you know what I mean." She spotted him across the room and left me after kissing me on the cheek. I loved Sue but I did not like this trend of my mothers wanting to talk sex with me now that I was married. Not at all.

* * *

After Sue left, I talked with some of Em's former coworkers from Hike Washington who'd actually been assigned to sit at the table where I'd collapsed. When they all left to go dance again, I intended to get up and socialize now that my feet were somewhat rested. But then Leah sat down next to me, so I stayed where I was. I immediately turned towards her and placed both my hands on her belly. I loved the feel of her bump. I touched it whenever I could.

"You probably woke him up with all that dancing," I said, speaking about my little unborn nephew.

"He might as well get used to his crazy Mom now," she said with a grin. "I don't sit still, and that won't change when I have him."

"You'll be fine, I have faith," I said.

"You're not mad at me are you?" she asked.

"For what?"

"That shit I said to Emmett in the limo. I didn't mean to go there about his brother but when my temper mixes with these hormones... shit flies."

"No, I'm not mad. But try not to go there again." She hugged me to her.

"I can't believe you're somebody's fucking wife now," she said.

"I can't believe you're about to be somebody's mother." We both snorted with laughter.

"What does that shit say about the future of humanity?" she asked.

We talked and laughed as more people stopped by the table. When they left, I was distracted again by crazy song lyrics and even crazier dancing out on the floor.

"Teach me how to what?" I asked Leah.

"Dougie," she replied. "It's a dance." I just shook my head as I watched the packed dance floor.

We asked DJ Dan to play some dance music for the later hours of the reception, so long as he used clean versions of all the songs. Em made that request; I didn't even know about clean versions of songs versus dirty ones. That's how much I _didn't _listen to music. We gave Dan a lot of leeway regarding song selection. He did this for a living and we trusted that he knew what to do. The dance floor had been packed all night so it was safe to say he'd done a great job.

"You read for fun. Some people listen to music and go to clubs and stuff," my sister said, teasing me.

"Where the hell did Seth learn that?" I said, ignoring her barb. "And when did he get so comfy with Irina?"

My brother was out there with all of the rest of the younger people, dancing with Rose's baby sister. They were a little too close for just the casual acquaintances I thought them to be.

"While you and I have been preoccupied with this wedding and my baby, our little bro has been getting it on with little Miss Tween Star," Leah said. My mouth fell open. I was clueless.

"I'm letting him have his fun now," she said, "but when you get back from the honeymoon, we're gonna get all up in his business. Rose says Reenie's never had a boyfriend, and she'd only ever kissed when she was acting. Her first real kiss was with Seth."

"Kiss," I shouted. I wasn't angry, just surprised that I'd missed all of this.

"Like I said, all in due time," she said. "He'll learn not to keep secrets from us."

"We sound like the evil stepsisters from some Disney movie," I said as we laughed and watched Seth shake his ass out on the dance floor. My baby brother wasn't such a baby anymore.

* * *

"Almost time," Em said to me.

I'd finally dragged myself up from my hidey corner, and had spent the last few minutes with Em talking to a few people we actually hadn't encountered as impossible as that seemed to me.

Before I could reply, Jane pulled him away. I saw her leading him to someone in Waylon's family. I probably should have gone too, but I needed the bathroom, so I headed in that direction.

In the hallway, I almost ran right into Alice and Edward. They looked very... postcoital. I thought back to my bachelorette party and how Alice said that Edward always wanted sex. Looked like he'd been successful in his quest tonight. Maybe it was Em rubbing off on me, but I _had_ to say something.

"And where have you two been?" I asked.

"We just came from checking on Tia," Edward said smoothly as Alice giggled. She'd had a little too much champagne today.

"The nursery's that way, you came from over there."

"I wanted to show Taz one of the music rooms too," Edward said with a perfectly straight face.

"Then why's Alice's belt missing?" I asked. At this, she started laughing uncontrollably and he followed suit.

"Okay, you caught us," she said. "Let us have a little fun. We don't get out much anymore."

"There was no need to lie in the first place," I said. We laughed and talked a little more until Alice suddenly grew serious.

"I wish you could see how peaceful you look," she said. "I'm really happy for you, and for Bunyan."

"Thanks, Alice," I said, moved by her sudden outburst. "I only hope we can last as long as you two have."

"We are the model of perfection," Edward said with a smirk. Normally, Alice would have jumped all over him for making that kind of comment, but in her near-drunken state, she merely started giggling again which in turn made me laugh harder.

"That's my song!" she shouted suddenly as the music changed to yet another song I didn't know. "C'mon, Eds." With a grimace, he let her drag him inside while I made my way to the bathroom.

I saw what Alice meant when I looked in the mirror. More than looking happy or in love, I looked calm. Like I didn't have a worry in the world. And really I didn't. I had Em and there wasn't much more that I needed.

* * *

Apparently, Alice's song only consisted of the words "I'm sexy and I know it" because that's all I kept hearing over and over as I stepped inside of the ballroom. But again, the dance floor was packed. I even saw Caius out there dancing with Rose. The man did own a nightclub; he probably knew all the popular songs.

"So," Em said, suddenly wrapping his arms around me from behind as I stood near the door.

"So what?" I asked as I rubbed my hands along his firm muscles.

"Are you ready for your honeymoon?"

"Yes, quite," I replied. "I can't wait to take a nice relaxing bath and go right to sleep."

"You're not funny, ya know," he whispered in my ear. "You wanna fuck me as bad as I wanna fuck you. Especially after you saw all my sexy moves on the dance floor." I cackled.

"Okay you caught me. I can't wait," I said, unable to stop smiling.

"Let's go then." He slowly backed us out through the door I'd just walked in through.

"Don't we have to say goodbye to everybody?" I asked.

"Hell no," he said. "We'd never get out of here if we did. I told our parents and I told Edward. They'll get the word out. C'mon, we need to change, and fast. Our ride's downstairs."

I followed him into the room I'd changed in earlier, and sure enough there were outfits laid out for us. I changed faster than I had in my whole life. Em helped me into my coat and led me through a door on the other side of the room, away from the wedding. Outside of it stood Cindy and her assistant. Cindy held my purse in her hand.

"Bella, it's been a pleasure," Cindy said as she handed my bag to me. "And thank you both for my gift!"

"I can't thank you enough for all that you've done," I said as I hugged her. "And you too, Dina. My day was perfect." The women beamed at me.

"You're tough, but you kept shit moving," Em said to Cindy. "And with our friends and family, that wasn't easy. I think you did a great job." I thought I saw Cindy wipe back a tear as Em hugged her.

"All your bags are down in the car," Dina said. "Hurry. You don't want to miss your flight."

Em suddenly scooped me up and moved swiftly down the hallway.

"My feet are loving you right now," I said as he grinned. Even in my sneakers, my dogs were barking.

"Your feet and all the rest of you can thank me later," he said.

I tingled all over from a heady combination of anticipation and excitement. I didn't know where exactly Em was taking me or how long it would take us to get there or any of the other small details that I would have normally planned within an inch of my life.

All I knew was that as my husband carried me in his arms through the grand hallways of the theatre, I was sure of one simple fact: I could get used to being swept off my feet by my gorgeous man for the rest of my life.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the reception. The honeymoon's up next!**

**As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**

* * *

**FYI: Here's a list of all the songs mentioned in the chapter:**

_Flightless Bird, American Mouth_, Iron and Wine  
_You Are the Sunshine of My Life_, Stevie Wonder  
_Baby Hold On_, Eddie Money  
_Dancing in the Moonlight_, King Harvest  
_Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)_, Big and Rich  
_Señorita_, Justin Timberlake  
_SexyBack_, Justin Timberlake  
_4 Minutes_, Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland  
_Teach Me How to Dougie_, Cali Swag District  
_Sexy and I Know It_, LMFAO


	4. Chapter 4 Honeymoon

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight. **_**I'm just playing mix and match with her characters. **

**Beta Thanks: **A canyon full of thanks go out to my amazing beta, ExquisiteEdward. _Mahalo_, my friend!

* * *

**The Wednesday Dinner Thing:**

**A New Year's Wedding, Chapter 4**

**EmPOV**

"What?"

"What?" Bell asked.

"Why are you staring at me?" I grumbled into my pillow, never opening my eyes or lifting my head.

"How do you know I'm staring at you?"

"I can feel it," I said. Not only was she staring at me, but she was also sitting up on the bed while she did.

"If you're looking for some action, sorry, you gotta let me get some rest, especially after last night. I'm not a machine."

She shrieked with laughter as I grinned, but she settled down a little too easily.

"I'm just thinking," she said a little sadly. "That's all."

I groaned and very slowly rolled over to face her. Bright sunlight filtered in through the balcony door of our fuck-awesome hotel suite overlooking Kalapaki Beach in Lihue on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. I'd chosen this place because Laurent always raved about the hiking here and I wanted to take Bell on a very special hike. I thought I'd chosen well.

I kept one arm over my face as I adjusted to the light and squinted up at her.

"What's up? You sound upset."

"I'm not upset. Just thinking."

"Cut the bullshit," I said, my voice gruff with sleep. "I know you too well. What's going on?"

She started biting her lip and playing with the edge of the sheet, clearly debating whether or not to tell me what she was thinking. I almost started to prompt her but then I decided to wait her out. We were married now, and we promised to start really telling each other what we needed and how we felt. Eventually, after letting out a long sigh, she spoke.

"Do you know what the girls did for my bachelorette party?"

"Got you some lame-ass strippers who couldn't possibly compete with my sexy ass?"

Again, she laughed. "They did, but I turned them away. They weren't even in your league."

I grinned. Of course, they couldn't compete with me. I tried to keep my eyes on her face because all she was wearing was a sheer little lingerie top. The bottom had been discarded in the night, and was either on the floor or tangled up in the sheets somewhere.

"Do you know what else they did?" she asked.

"No. Tell me what's wrong." This time, I rubbed her calf a little; my touch seemed to give her a little more courage.

"They had a lady come and give a demonstration. You know, sex toys and all that stuff."

I removed my arm from my eyes and raised an eyebrow, causing more laughter. Then, I yawned and stretched. Her eyes grew dark as the sheet slipped almost completely off of me. I didn't think she realized how she licked her lips as she stared at my abs. I'd finally picked up all the weight I'd lost and I'd started working out again more regularly. Even I had to admit, I was looking pretty cut these days.

"Spit it out, you're making me nervous," I said, sitting up a little against the pillows.

"I didn't make it through her talk," she said after she took a deep breath. "All those toys... it's just not me."

"But?" I asked. This time, she got distracted by my face as she stared and seemed to lose her train of thought. The way she was looking at me, you'd think she hadn't had sex for years, when in actuality, we'd been having a two-day fuck marathon. It was Wednesday morning and we had yet to leave the hotel room. The only person we'd seen was the room-service guy delivering food when we forced ourselves to eat to keep up our energy.

"I know I look good," I said, "but you're fucking making me nervous. What's wrong? You wanna try some toys or something?"

"Do_ you _want to?" she asked quickly, clearly wanting to see what I'd say.

"I like to think I've got all the toys you need," I said jokingly. I was up for whatever she wanted to try, but I liked our sex life. I had no complaints.

She grinned so hard she almost blinded me, clearly relieved. "I was worried," she said. "This, what we've been doing here, has been amazing."

"Agreed," I said as she grinned again.

"But it's not always going to be like this," she said. "I just don't want you to get bored with me when we get back home. When I saw all those toys, I realized that people are doing some wild shit out there and all that stuff is just not me."

"There _are _some kinky motherfuckers out there," I said. I chuckled because let Jake tell it, her sister was one of them. "But I like how we are together, and if I do start feeling bored, you'll be the first to know."

I started massaging her calf as she looked up at me with those big baby browns.

"Deal," she said in a breathy voice as she moved closer to me and threw off her top.

"It's nice to be surprised once in a while though," I said, my own voice sounding a little breathless as I kept massaging her leg. "When you looked all extra hot that time. And had on that half bra-shirt thing. You know when. That made me_ crazy._ Maybe we can do stuff like that once in a while, just to keep it spicy."

"Yeah," she whispered, staring at my chest before she reached out her hand and started lightly running her fingers over my abs.

"Maybe I'll dress up my dick once in a while too," I said. "That would shock you. Put a ribbon around it or something." She cracked up laughing and fell on top of me causing us both to groan. Clearly, we were about to start round eighty-seven.

"I happen to know your dick very well," Bell said as she lightly started running her fingernails along it causing me to tense up. "And I don't think he'd like to be dressed up. I think you can find some other way to keep it spicy."

"I think... you're... right," I said as she began full-on stroking me, tightening my hardening cock in her hand. Her eyes were almost a whole shade darker now.

"I thought this would be the day we'd finally leave the room," I said, flinching a little when she leaned down and placed open-mouthed kisses from my belly button down to my cock.

"Maybe it will, maybe it won't," she said before she sucked me into her hot, wet mouth.

"Fuck," I shouted as she licked and sucked along my length. Her hair tickled my stomach and she used one hand to hold me steady while the other massaged my inner thigh.

"Shit that feels good," I said, shutting my eyes to just enjoy the feelings coursing through my entire body. I loved how she was since we'd been here: free, wild, uninhibited.

I sat up a little straighter against the pillows, pulling her with me. I reached down and pinched her tight little ass before I started rubbing it more firmly.

"Mmmmmm," she moaned around my cock as she bobbed her head up and down. I stuck two fingers inside of her, coating them in her wetness. She abruptly plopped her mouth off of my dick.

"Too sore," she said quickly before she went back to work.

"I wonder why," I said with a smirk. She chuckled around me, the vibrations again sending waves of sensation through me.

I removed my fingers, and leaned forward to really play with her ass. I groped and kneaded both cheeks with my hands, even smacking them a few times. She screamed and groaned around me, but she never let go of my dick. I wasn't gonna last much longer.

Reaching down, I ran my index finger over the wet lips of her pussy. Then, I slowly slid just the tip of my finger into the tight little hole of her ass.

"Oh fuck," she shouted, releasing my cock to throw her head back as I slowly moved my finger in and out of her ass. I didn't put it in very deeply, this wasn't something we'd done a lot but she seemed to be enjoying it, obviously.

"You play dirty," she said, turning to look at me as she kept backing up onto my finger.

"You want me to stop?" I asked innocently.

"No way," she said with a wicked grin before she roughly grabbed my cock in her hand and sucked _hard_ just on the tip.

"Shit," I yelled. She removed her mouth and I shot all over the both of us as she stroked me to completion.

With my finger still in her ass, she moved up and stuck her tongue in my mouth as we kissed recklessly. When I leaned down and licked and nipped at her hard nipples, she screamed and gave in to her orgasm.

"What were you saying about toys?" I asked when I finally had enough air to speak.

"Not a goddamn thing," she said sleepily from beside me.

"That's what I thought," I said with a smug grin as we both drifted off to sleep... again.

* * *

"Finally came up for air, huh?" Jake asked from the other end of the phone. I could almost picture his exact expression.

"Dude, you have no idea," I said, chuckling. "You got a minute? I don't have much time." From my lounger on the balcony, I looked back inside of the suite, but Bell was still on her cell phone.

"For you, I got time," he said. "What's up?"

"What the fuck did you do now?" I asked.

"I have no idea," he replied as he laughed a little. "Everything's my fault these days around here."

"Bell's been on the phone with Lee for the last half hour and they're all worked up. I heard your name a couple times, and Sue's."

"I proposed again," he said simply.

"Why? She keeps saying she's not ready." Now I knew exactly why Leah had called Bell in tears.

"We were so good together at the wedding," he said. "And I thought after she saw how great everything went and how happy you two looked, she'd cave."

"As usual, you were wrong," I said as we both laughed.

"I don't understand her," Jake said. "She's committed enough to live with me and have my son, but not to marry me? Shit makes no sense at all."

"Take it from me," I said, "I don't know if they got it from Charlie or Sue or both, but there's no pushing Lee or Bell; those two are stubborn as hell."

"Tell me about it," he said. "The last couple of days, Sue and Charlie have been on her to get married before the baby comes. I guess that's why she's so upset. She hasn't said much to me at all."

"_I'll talk to them myself. They can't keep upsetting you like this. It's not good for you or the baby." _ Bell sounded _pissed_ as she passed by the balcony door inside as she talked to her sister on the phone.

"You're about to be on the receiving end of a verbal ass whipping," I said as I told Jake what Bell just said. She was supposed to be getting ready for dinner and we needed to get going soon.

"That'll just be more of the same for me," he said, actually laughing. At least he was keeping his spirits up.

"So, all sex jokes aside, how's the honeymoon?" he asked. "It's Thursday, you had to have left the room by now."

"Yeah, just last night," I said as he guffawed. "We had reservations for a luau, so we had to go. That was great though."

"Did you do the hike yet?" he asked.

"No, that's tomorrow, and I'm pretty stoked." I'd told him about my plans to take Bell on the hike. I planned to make a memory that would last a lifetime with her.

"I've gotten so many ideas for EJT since I've been here," I said. "This place has tours all over, and I've been talking to everybody I can."

EJT was how Jake and I referred to our business, E. J. Tours. Neither one of us worked for Hike Washington anymore. As of January 1, we were officially in business. We were on our own now, with health insurance plans and payroll and everything. I thought I'd be more scared but I wasn't; it felt completely right.

"Cool," he said. "Speaking of, I got the meeting with the casino set up, and Rick called and said the bus is all ready for you for Tuesday."

It occurred to me that there were a lot of people from my own neighborhood at _Forest Crossing_ who might have a lot of time on their hands for day trips and what not. I'd talked to Mrs. Cope, the property manager, about it and she agreed.

She felt there would be definite interest in day trips. We'd planned a local museum tour, and both of the dates we'd set filled up quickly. The community association would pay for it, and they had deep pockets. If we could get a regular thing going, that would be a huge account for our business.

Until we got our own buses, which would take some time, we were using the same buses and drivers we'd used for the surprise party. On top of that, Jake was meeting with a casino in the area to find out exactly what we'd need to do to set up trips there as well. With our network of friends and family, Jake and I felt sure we'd be successful. So far, so good.

"Good deal," I said. "I forgot to tell you that Esme agreed to come with us on Wednesday when we look at spaces."

"Good," he said. "Caius offered again, but I told him we had it covered."

I laughed. "Glad you did."

We needed space for three things: the retail store, a headquarters office, and a parking lot for the buses we would eventually have. Caius had been very helpful in offering his services and knowledge of the area, but we politely turned him down; we'd rather not have Caius Cullen tied up in our business dealings.

We did, however, talk to Esme who sort of hired herself on to be our real estate consultant and interior designer. And we were perfectly fine with that because she knew her shit. Commercial real estate was her family's business.

She told us that we needed someone to design the interior of the store once we picked a location to make sure that there was proper flow of traffic in the store and to maximize space. We hadn't given much thought to all that stuff but we knew she was right; Esme was a great resource.

"I better go," I said.

"Have a great rest of your trip," Jake said.

"Thanks, man. Miss ya, bro."

I got off the phone just in time because Bell flung the screen open.

"Were you just talking to Jake?" she asked with her hand on her hip, looking ticked.

"Um, Jake Black?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Do you know any other Jakes?" she snapped. I smiled and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"I just called him and he wouldn't answer the phone. You tell him to leave my sister alone. She'll marry him when she fucking feels like it. I can't believe..."

"You look incredible," I said over her rant. I stood and walked behind her, rubbing my hands down her bare arms. She wore a black dress that came to the middle of her thigh. It had thin straps that crossed all over her bare back. It was kind of molded to her chest but flowed a little looser from there.

"Where'd you get this dress?"

"Alice and Esme gave it to me," she said, still looking annoyed.

"I like when you don't wear a bra," I said as I kissed along her exposed neck. "A lot." I practically growled in her ear and she finally relaxed a little and melted into my arms.

"Is this appropriate for dinner, since you won't tell me where we're going?"

In addition to her simple sexy dress, she wore a pair of flat sandals with shiny black straps. Her hair was all slung over one shoulder and she'd tucked a flower into it behind her ear. The only jewelry she wore was my wedding ring set, and that shit turned me on. That's all she needed to wear as far as I was concerned.

"You're perfect," I replied. "And that's where we're going for dinner." I pointed over the balcony to the little cabana on the beach where we'd be enjoying a romantic meal.

"Em," she gasped, placing both hands over her mouth as she turned to look at me.

"We'll have dinner while we watch the sun set," I said. She threw her arms around me and I held her tightly. If my wife wanted romance, then that's what she would have. I would be romantic and whatever else she needed me to be. Forever.

* * *

**BPOV**

"I'm fine," Leah said. "You don't have to keep checking on me. I should have never called you in the first place."

"I'm kind of using you right now, so play along," I said in a low voice.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"The creepiest dude I have ever seen in my life is following me right now," I whispered, watching the loser out of the corner of my eye.

"What? Where's Em? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't get upset," I said. "We're in a hiking goods store right now."

"Say no more," she said. "I bet Em's in heaven."

"Yeah, he's been talking to the owner forever and Mr. Creeptastic has been watching me the whole time I've been looking around the store."

"I almost feel sorry for him," she said, laughing. "He better not start any shit. Not with Emmett right there."

"Exactly," I said as I pretended to examine a series of ropes hanging from the wall.

"So what have you been up to?" she asked excitedly. "I was so wrapped up in my problems I didn't even ask yesterday."

"When I talked to you, we'd only left the room once, the night before, for a luau."

"I've always wanted to go to one of those," she said. I smiled at her enthusiasm. "How was it?"

"Great," I replied. "The food and the show. Then, last night, Em arranged for a candlelight dinner on the beach. Lee, it was _so_ romantic."

"You know, that big doofus really must love your ass," she said. I couldn't help but laugh loudly. I felt Em look over at me, but I kept talking. I noticed that the creeper was steadily moving closer as well, so I inched closer to the front of the store nearer to Em.

"What else have you been up to?" she asked.

"We went ziplining and off-roading today, you know with the 4-wheeler ATV things."

"_You _went ziplining and off-roading?" Leah asked, skepticism evident in her tone.

"Yes," I said indignantly.

"You must mean that Em did all the real work and you just hung on for dear life," she said. She didn't know, but she'd just described what I'd done on the ATV ride exactly.

"He may or may not have the imprint of my face in his back," I said as we both laughed.

Now that we'd actually made it on a real vacation together, Em wanted to do all sorts of adventurous shit. I hoped he'd get all of the adventure out of him; at some point, I just wanted to relax around the hotel, maybe get a massage. So far, that hadn't happened though.

"Tell me he's not making you go hiking," she said. "You can't just be in that store for fun."

"We are," I said, rolling my eyes, "and trust me, I'm not happy about it. But he's determined."

I didn't think this hike was a good idea at all as tired as I was, but Em assured me that we could take our time as we walked; he said we could rest along the way if we needed to. He really seemed hell bent on going.

"You'll be fine with him," she said. "If he knows anything, it's hiking."

"This is true," I said.

"Well, I better get back to work," she said. "I'm doing reports."

"Okay," I said. "I think he's about done anyway."

"See you soon," Lee said. "And thanks for whatever you said to Mom and Jake. They've been better."

"I never did get to talk to him," I said. "Bastard wouldn't answer my calls." She laughed as we said our goodbyes.

I tucked my phone away and turned to walk towards Em at the register. He actually didn't look anywhere close to being done talking to the store owner and I sighed. Luckily, the creeper appeared to have left too, so I continued my perusal of the shop, trying to imagine what Em and Jake's store might look like.

"I see a lot of asses come through here, but not many as hot as yours." I turned around and found myself face to face with the creeper. He completely invaded my personal space. He was wiry and lean, with stringy blond hair and a deep tan. He looked like a caged animal who'd just broken free.

"You're a pig," I said loudly as I took a step back, still closer to Em. It didn't matter though, he stepped with me.

"If you were mine, I'd never let you out of my sight," he said. His stale breath blew in my face as his lecherous eyes roamed my body. Thank goodness I'd put on a T shirt over the strapless bikini I wore, as well as a tiny pair of shorts.

"Well, I'm not," I said curtly, "and if you know what's good for you, you'll leave me alone." He laughed derisively, and stepped even closer to me.

"Is that so?" he said, as he reached out his hand to touch me.

Too bad for him he was a dumbass who didn't listen.

"Back off the wife, dude," Em said aggressively. "I'd hate to have to fuck you up."

He stood directly in front of me in the small space between me and the creep. I had no doubt that if Em had been any smaller, Sir Creepy would have tried to fight him. But Em was simply too big and too fit. If possible, he looked more masculine than ever because he had a light beard growing in now, having decided not to shave since we'd been here. My husband was a lover not a fighter, but he'd get physical if need be. If I was a guy, I know I'd steer clear of Em.

"James!" the guy behind the counter said sharply. "Back to work!" With a final glare at Em and a last leer at me, he skulked away.

"Sorry about that, here's your bag," the store owner said to Em. "It was great to meet you."

"You too," Em replied as he took the bag with our supplies and shook the man's hand.

"James gets a little carried away sometimes," he said, turning to look at me. "But in this case, I can't say I blame him. You are a _very_ lucky man."

I shivered a little and moved further behind Em. This guy's old ass was only marginally less creepy than James. I couldn't wait to get out of this place.

"Tell me something I don't know," Em said with a chuckle. "Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it."

We left the store; I moved as fast as I could.

"The perils of having a sexy wife," Em said with a grin. "Can't take you anywhere."

"When did you start saying shit like 'perils'?" I asked, smirking back at him.

"Show's what you know. Tiny just gave me a book called _The Perils and Pitfalls of Small Business Ownership_," he said proudly. "You better watch out; she's gonna have me as smart as you pretty soon." At the incredulous look I gave him at the zero chance of that happening, we both fell out laughing.

"Thank you for not making a scene back there," I said when I stopped laughing.

"If I made a stink about every guy that checked you out this week, I'd have been fighting this whole trip," he said. I smiled at his words. I certainly wasn't one to fish for compliments but it was nice to feel attractive. I always felt so plain, but here I felt more confident for some reason.

"You have no idea how amazing you look," Em continued. "That's part of what makes us guys go crazy. Me included. Your hair's all wavy and wild and hot, you've that tan going on, and you've been looking just-fucked all week."

"I have been just-fucked all week," I said with a smirk.

"I know, I was there," he replied with a huge grin.

I hadn't done shit to my hair all week other than wash it; I just let it dry naturally. I'd been making sure to keep myself covered in sunscreen since we'd been out the last few days, so I did have a nice little tan at the moment.

"I can say the same for you," I said. "There's a lady over there checking you out right now." Women had been doing double takes at him all week too. I had noticed, and I was not amused.

"That's nothing new though," Em said. "I was born hot."

I slapped his arm as he doubled over laughing. _Cocky asshole_, I thought to myself. I grinned as I followed him, to where I didn't exactly know.

* * *

"You did great, babe," Em said as he carefully lifted me down from the edge of the overgrown trail we'd been following.

"I had a great guide," I replied as he grinned at me.

"This is perfect," he said as he walked a few feet away from me and looked behind an outcropping of rock. I followed, just happy to be on more flat ground. We'd hiked down a very steep trail, taking our time, stopping to take pictures of the stunning vistas along the way. Em led, navigating with purpose. He was always so much more confident and assured outdoors, and that most definitely turned me on.

"I think this'll work great," Em said, coming back around from the wall of rock. There was a huge pool of water just below us with several small waterfalls around the sides. He'd certainly planned a great honeymoon; the natural beauty of this island astounded me. I followed him, shocked to enter a fairly secluded little alcove.

"How did you find this?" I asked as he removed his backpack.

"I talked to a few locals and they said that there's plenty of little hidden places like this if you're willing to hike to find them. They pointed me in a general direction. I was just waiting to find a good spot."

I carefully sat on the edge of a huge, relatively flat boulder as I watched him expertly unfold a large camping mat onto the ground. I decided to snap a few pictures of the mini lake below us while he prepared a spot for us to sit.

"It's so beautiful here," I said. "You picked a great..." I didn't finish my sentence because I caught sight of Em, stripping completely nude in front of me, not in the least bit bashful or ashamed.

He tossed his clothes and shoes on top of the backpack. "Care to join me?" he asked.

I gulped, and looked around us.

"If anybody finds us all the way down here, then they can watch or join in, I really don't give a shit," he said. "And don't worry about those creepy guys at the store. I was talking to them about supplies. I didn't give them any clue about where we were going. Come on." He sat down on the mat, stretching out his long chiseled body. Then, he turned on his side, resting his head on his hand, never taking his eyes off of me.

"Oh what the hell," I said as I hastily pulled off my T shirt, shoes, and shorts.

"Take it off! Take it off!" Em chanted with a huge grin as I slowly untied my bikini, top and bottom. The light breeze cooled my completely bare body as I brazenly strolled over to the mat and lay down beside my husband.

"I promised myself I'd make love to you outside, somewhere private and secluded, so we'd always have a great memory," he said, his eyes warm and glowing.

"It's perfect," I said, my voice hungry with need.

"I love you more than anything in the world," Em said as he softly stroked the outside of my thigh. I carefully rolled onto my back; the mat provided a slight cushion on the ground.

"I love you too," I said. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

Em placed soft kisses all over my face as he increased the pressure of his large hand on my thigh and slowly worked it inward. He leisurely made his way down my body with his mouth, lingering at my neck and then at the area between my breasts.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do something like this," he said. I raked my nails through his hair, too aroused and excited to speak. But he had more to say. Much more.

"I don't know why God gave me you," he said as he stopped his actions and looked lovingly into my eyes. "But I'm thankful every day. There's nobody else for me but you. Nobody." He went back to kissing between my breasts and then down my stomach. I kept my hands in his hair, pushing him closer to my skin as I tugged at his hair.

"You're so special," he whispered as he pinned my legs back with his hands, "so perfect. I love you."

Tears formed in my eyes as he reverently kissed all over my skin. It was like he was declaring his eternal love for me, but he didn't need to do that. I wanted to tell him how he made me feel, and how much I loved him too. But I was so overcome, I absolutely could not speak; this was true sensory overload.

His words reached straight into my chest and tugged at my heart. The idyllic locale created a surreal backdrop for his pledges of devotion. His touch burned his feelings into my skin. I never experienced anything like this or anything close. What had I done to deserve this beautiful man?

"Em!" I shrieked when he lowered his head between my legs. The scruff of his beard tickled the insides of my thighs. I screamed so loud as he kissed and sucked at my clit that a few birds flew out of the nearby trees.

"_Please_," I begged, for what I wasn't sure, as he held me open and continued to kiss and suck at my center. When he stuck his thick tongue inside me as far as it could go, I thought I might literally explode.

A cool breeze wafted over my erect nipples as his tongue moved in me like a piston. A slowly trickling stream of water near my head steadily sprayed fine mist on my face as the fragrant air soothed me like an all-natural scented candle.

I could take no more; there were too many feelings, there was too much sensation.

My body clenched in orgasm; for all I knew, the world itself had stopped. I felt everything and nothing all at once.

"Welcome back," Em said when I returned to my body. He'd replaced his tongue with his rock-hard cock and stared deep into my eyes as he steadily thrust into me. With what energy I could muster, I wrapped my arms and legs loosely around him, reveling in the feel of his solid body against mine.

His eyes told the story of what we shared: we had never experienced anything like this together. He jerked suddenly, shutting those beautiful eyes, and stilled. I held him and caressed his arms and back as he released in long spurts; I could feel each throb of his cock as it pulsed.

"Fucking... amazing," he mumbled through heavy breaths as I lifted my limp hand and lazily ran it over his sweaty head.

"Yeah," I whispered. There was nothing else that could be said about what we'd just shared.

"I will never forget this experience as long as I live," I said after a time. "Thank you. I love you." Em sluggishly lifted his head and smiled.

"Back atcha, Mrs. M," my husband said before he rested his head against my chest.

We stayed that way, still and unmoving, wrapped in each other a little longer, not wanting to end the magic. But eventually, we had to leave our private hideaway. We took as many pictures as we could and I tried to commit the place to memory because we knew we'd never find this exact spot again no matter how hard we tried. And that made our time in our personal little paradise so much more special.

* * *

"Un-freaking-believable," I muttered as the cashier rang up my rather large mound of purchases at the gift store counter.

It was Saturday, our last full day on the beautiful island. Tomorrow morning we'd head back home. After a snorkeling expedition earlier, we'd spent the remainder of the day touring our stunning hotel as well as the town.

Em had been desperate to try a shave ice, a local favorite treat that was like a snow cone on steroids. While I searched the gift store for final souvenirs for our families and for the gang, Em sat outside, happily eating the frozen concoction as he talked to a tour guide and one of our hotel's shuttle bus drivers.

Only now, instead of the men, four women surrounded my husband, adjusting their tits in their bathing suits right in front of him as they giggled and flirted. Even from my vantage point from the counter, I could see he was more concerned with finishing his shave ice before it melted than talking, but the skanks didn't care.

"I think he's a famous football player," the cashier said as she saw me staring outside. I noticed several of the other women around me staring too.

"No, I think he plays baseball," said a woman from the line behind me. "He looks so familiar."

"Whoever he is, he's hot hot _hot_," said a woman next to me at the counter. She looked older than my Gran. I rolled my eyes.

"Give me an ugly guy any day," said a second cashier. "If I had a hunky guy like _that_, I'd be afraid to let him leave the house." This caused all of them to laugh and cackle.

I didn't say anything as I tried to control my temper. Put simply, my husband did in fact look like he played some professional sport somewhere. His stature made him the center of attention almost everywhere we went.

His body was ripped thanks to his regular workouts, his eyes twinkled when he spoke, and he had those fucking deep-ass dimples when he smiled, which were more visible now that he'd shaved again. On top of all that, Alice kept his hair cut stylishly and his eyebrows trimmed. Em had always been beautiful to me, inside and out. But now, there was no getting around the fact that he looked fuck-hot to everyone, not just me.

"Could you give me the tag off of that? You don't need to put it on the counter." The cashier pointed to the small rolling suitcase I was buying to fit all the gifts and knick knacks we were taking home. I snapped out of my reverie and gave her the price tag.

I needed to get the hell out of here before I snapped at one of these women as they continued to ogle my husband. But really, there was no point in me getting upset. They could all look and talk, but he didn't take any of them on an amazing canyon hike to have mind-blowing sex. He did that with _me_. He loved me, not them.

"$255.70," the cashier said, again pulling me from my thoughts. I gave her my credit card and signed the slip when she handed it to me. I put away my card and receipt, collected my purchases, and hastily exited the store.

I stepped outside, walking behind Em's little crowd. As soon as he saw me, he jumped up and grabbed my bags - never letting go of his shave ice - while I rolled the little suitcase. He looked so happy to see me that all of my dark thoughts evaporated.

"Did you leave anything in the store?" he asked with a smirk. I could feel the glares and stares from his admirers on my back.

"A few things, yes," I said as we smiled at each other.

"Let's get back to our room," he said loudly, "there's one more bikini I haven't seen you in yet. We've still got time."

He winked at me and we grinned at each other as we walked back to our nearby hotel. I couldn't resist turning around quickly to see the reaction of his fan club. The looks on their faces clearly said that plain little old, no-makeup-wearing me shouldn't be with someone like him. And my answering look to them gave my feeling on the matter.

_Suck it, girls. He's all mine._

* * *

**This is it... the last chapter of the wedding. Hope you enjoyed it!**

**A few notes:**

**1. If you enjoyed scruffy beard Emmett, you can thank reader **_**emmettsmate**_**. The scruff was her idea; I just had a little fun with it LOL.**

**2. I couldn't resist adding in a little creeptastic James ;0)**

**3. In case you're wondering, there are only two more chapters of the entire **_**Wednesday Dinner**_** universe: **

**(*) a Caius outtake entitled, "What's Mine Is Mine" and **

**(*) a second chapter of the Edward/Tia "Cartoons, Fries, and Plans with the Guys" outtake. We'll catch up with the gang as they assemble for Tia's 4th birthday party. **

**As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**


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